


Harry Potter and the Masquerade

by Cleddyf



Series: The Many Faces of Harry Potter [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hufflepuff Harry Potter, Metamorphmagus Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:29:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27630754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cleddyf/pseuds/Cleddyf
Summary: Things happen differently when Harry is one, and so a new story can be told.  A "retelling" of the Harry Potter story, with a lot of changes.  Very much an AU.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Nymphadora Tonks
Series: The Many Faces of Harry Potter [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924114
Comments: 52
Kudos: 176





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this get stuck in my head after finishing the last chapter of Respawn. So I had to get it out. It's unlikely I'll update this much until I finish Respawn, but wanted to get it _started_ at least.

Lily Potter looked down at her son, holding him in her arms. Life had been very good to the Potters in the months after his birth, in spite of the war going on. As she held him, she blinked as she saw his jet-black hair change slowly to match her auburn. "James!" She called, and heard her husband come up the stairs and into the nursery. "Look!"

James came rushing into the room, stopping abruptly when he didn't see anything wrong. He looked to the baby and blinked, "What's up with Harry?" he asked her, approaching and leaning over to look at the child. The baby giggled, lifting a hand towards James, and slowly, his hair turned jet-black again, his eyes turning hazel. "Hey!" He beamed, "It changed again. You think he's like Nymphadora?"

"Probably. Andi told me that she started changing six or seven months after she was born, it's about the right time," Lily said. "We'll have to invite them over more often, I bet Nymphadora'll be thrilled."

Over the next few months, the Tonks became regular visitors, little Nymphadora often helping take care of Harry, proud to be the _older one_. Harry's birthday party was rather small as they were hiding, but he got to see a few other children, including Nymphadora. Lily insisted on taking pictures, pride of place being one where Harry stood up and kissed Nymphadora on the cheek.

HPHPHPHPHP

"I'm sure this will work," Lily told James, as she stood in the nursery. "It's based on an old ritual designed to bless the home. I've improved it, I think. Any who invade or break guest rights would find their magic curtailed and slowly siphoned away. If we do this right, even if we were to be killed, Harry would live, as I'll be placing the runic circle under his crib, hidden by a rug."

"Even if we're killed?" James asked, as he slipped his arm around Lily, pulling her close. "How does this work, exactly? You've always been better at the fiddly stuff than I."

"Yes. The way the spell works, each transgression builds magical power that both hinders the attacker and will eventually overwhelm them. A duel, for instance, would build power for each spell thrown by the intruder. If we can hold him off long enough, that in and of itself would allow the ritual to strike him down. If we can't...well." The red-head shuddered slightly, hugging her husband tightly, "Each death would empower the ritual further. At the very worst, if he kills both of us, trying to kill Harry would in and of itself empower the ritual enough to protect Harry from anything. It has to do with the arithmancy involved with three murders. It should work even with the Killing Curse, if the modifications I am putting into the ritual work as intended."

"So we stand and fight, and if we have to, we die, but Harry lives." James nodded once. "I don't like the idea of dying, but if it helps protect him, I'm all for it. If he finds us, somehow. We have to trust Peter."

"I really wish we could have chosen Remus for Secret Keeper, but he's been away so long. I know some of the Order worry that he's the spy, but I don't think so. Sirius is the obvious choice for Secret Keeper, but you know something about Peter rubs me the wrong way, him as the Secret Keeper worries me," Lily told her husband.

"Peter's a good bloke, I'm sure he'll be fine," James tried to assure his wife. He knew that Peter was a little shifty, but they'd been friends throughout Hogwarts, he'd never betray them.

Lily sighed. She knew that she and James would never see eye to eye on this topic.

HPHPHPHPHP

It was a quiet Samhain night. They'd already had dinner, and James sat in the living room, flipping through an old book. He felt nervous, there had been more attacks on the Order in the past few days. Suddenly, light flared outside as the wards shattered, and he rose to his feet, glancing over to his wife, "Lil! He's here, just broke down the wards. Take Harry and run!" James looked around quickly and dove to the side, picking up his wand.

The door was pushed open, and in stalked Voldemort. "Ah, Potter," the snake-like man snarled. "Time for you to die, for defying Lord Voldemort."

"Speaking of yourself in the third person? Little full of yourself, aren't you?" James quipped as darted to the side, avoiding a Killing Curse. He began to mimic the other wizard's voice, "'Lord Voldemort is here to kill you! No, Lord Voldemort is here for tea and crumpets!'"

Glowing runes had begun to light underneath the crib, upstairs.

"You _dare_? You will die horribly. **Crucio!**!" Voldemort set another curse, only to have it dodged as James lobbied a spell chain at him, Bone Breaker followed by Cutting Curse followed by Banishing Curse. Unfortunately, Voldemort blocked them with a powerful Shield Charm.

'Just have to hold him off, Lils' ritual will do the rest,' James thought, as he smirked at Voldemort. "I don't know. Don't really see me dying, do you?" He asked, sidestepping another Killing Curse. He lashed out with more spells, the room flashing with light from the duel.

Unfortunately for James, Voldemort wasn't alone and he was distracted as another stepped in, avoiding the Cutting Curse directed at him. This gave Voldemort enough time to strike, another Killing Curse coming in unseen. And James Potter fell.

The runes began to glow with a soft golden light.

"Wormtail! What do you think you were doing? You do _not_ interfere with Lord Voldemort's duels! **Crucio**!" Briefly putting the other man under the Torture Curse, he released it as he climbed the steps, coming upon Lily Potter standing, wand in hand. "Step aside, girl, and you will live."

Lily Potter responded with, "Never!" She attacked. She knew she wasn't as magically powerful as James, but she was always more deft with spells, and she hoped she could slow him down. Inside, she wanted to cry, as she knew her husband was gone. Avoiding Voldemort's spells, she snapped more attacks at him, doing as her husband did, trying to draw out the battle.

Unfortunately for her, Voldemort was no fool. Avoiding an Entrail-Expelling Curse, he directed a Killing Curse not at her, but the baby in the crib. James was always the expert in battle conjuration, and so Lily did the only thing she could. She dived in front of the spell, and was no more.

Hidden by the rug, the runes began to glow more brightly, slowly turning white.

"Foolish girl. I promised Severus, but she forced my hand." Slowly, Voldemort approached the crib. "The prophecy says you will stop me. I will not allow that to happen." He gestured with his wand, and a Killing Curse streaked out towards Harry, " **Avada Kedavra**!"

Beneath the rug, the runes flared brightly, turning an opalescent white, so bright their glow penetrated their covering. The Killing Curse seemed to halt for a split second even as it touched Harry's temple, before it shattered, a shard of pure magic gouging into the baby's skin. Voldemort cried out in enraged surprise, even as blinding silvery-white light filled the room. And Voldemort felt his body burning, the magic searing through him.

In a single instant, the Dark Lord was no more, his wand clattering to the floor in a pile of ash.

Unexpected by Lily Potter, the power contained by the ritual grounded and a rush of magic poured into the child at the heart of the ritual.

Harry began to cry, frightened.

Up the stairs came a rotund figure. The figure gasped quietly in shock as he saw Voldemort's wand and robes covered in ash. Kneeling, he picked up Voldemort's wand, cradling it. Turning, he looked at the crib; with a trembling hand, he lifted his wand, pointing it towards the crib. About to cast, he heard the sound of a motorcycle, and shook his head, whispering, "Sirius, damnit." He turned and disappeared as he apparated out of the building.

The motorcycle outside shut off, and a slender figure came running into the house. "James!" Sirius cried, kneeling near the body of his friend, "Oh Merlin, James..." He stood up and ran up the steps, seeing Lily. He stopped, holding his head, "I'm too late, I'm too late." It was then that he heard a baby's cry.

"Harry?" He picked up the baby quickly, holding him in his arms. "Oh, thank Merlin you're all right," he murmured, tears falling. "Need to get him to safety, what if more Death Eaters come?"

He quickly went downstairs and left the building, near running into a large figure. "Hagrid!" He said, holding Harry carefully.

"Sirius! What happened?" Hagrid asked. "Dumbledore tol' me to come, look on Harry and take him to safety, he said the wards wen' down?"

"Voldemort. Peter must have told him. I'm going to _kill_ him." Sirius snarled.

"Dumbledore tol' me to take Harry back to Hogwarts." Too caught up in his rage to think clearly, Sirius handed the baby over to the half-giant. "Take my motorcycle. I have a rat to catch."

Once Hagrid disappeared into the distance, Sirius waved his wand, murmuring a few spells. Then he turned and apparated away.

HPHPHPHPHP

It took some time, but Sirius finally caught up with his _friend_. As he approached, he was surprised by the traitor's words.

"Sirius, how could you?! You betrayed Lily and James!" Pettigrew's mocking cry echoed before the street exploded.

And all Sirius Black could do was laugh.

HPHPHPHPHP

In Hogwarts Castle, Dumbledore looked down at the child in his makeshift crib. "Sirius said that Pettigrew betrayed them?"

"Aye, Sirius was crying and upset. He gave Harry to me and said he was going to catch the rat, and left." Hagrid had tears in his eyes himself over the fate of the Potters. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"Hmmm. It _is_ strange that Sirius so willingly gave up Harry. If he were a Death Eater, I presume the boy would have killed him." Dumbledore frowned. "We will need to contact the DMLE. I'll handle this, you go change and eat." He watched Hagrid leave, sighing.

First, he'd have to make arrangements for Harry. He'd like to send the boy away to live with muggles, where it was less likely Dark wizards would find him. But he was a metamorphmagus. They couldn't learn complete control of their changes until their magic settled around the time it was time to attend Hogwarts. The boy would have to be fostered in a Wizarding home.

There really was only one choice.

He headed to the floo, and threw some floo powder into the flames, "Tonks residence," he declared.

Soon, a brown-haired woman could be seen, "Albus? What can I do for you?"

"I need you to come through, Andromeda, it's important," Dumbledore answered, stepping back.

"Just a moment," the woman said, turning to pick up something and then stepped through the flames. Holding her wand carefully as she looked around, Andromeda glanced at Dumbledore, "What's going -- is that Harry?"

"I'm afraid so. Voldemort managed to find the Potter Cottage. Both James and Lily are dead, but Harry survived," Dumbledore explained. "Somehow, Voldemort was slain as well."

"Oh, Morgana, no," Andromeda said, tears in her eyes.

"He is going to need someone to care for him, and you and the Potters were close, are you willing?" the old wizard asked.

"Of course I am!" the woman declared as she approached Harry, bending down to look at him. "What is the scar on his forehead?"

"I'm not sure, there were traces of Dark magic, but after Pomfrey cleaned the wound and used Dittany, the scar healed," Dumbledore stated.

"Poor boy," Andromeda said with a sigh. "Do you know how Voldemort found them?"

"Well," Dumbledore said, "Hagrid said that he found Sirius there, crying. Apparently, he told Hagrid that Peter betrayed them and said he was going to hunt the rat. I hope we can find proof. He went around saying he was the Secret Keeper."

Andromeda sighed, "Oh, Sirius, you fool. Knowing him, he didn't make plans if something untoward happened. We can just hope Lily or James were smarter." She looked at Dumbledore, "Can I take him? I'd like to get him settled."

"Yes, though I warn, I'd like you to move in the near future. It'll be safer for Harry, there will be many people looking for him. Better that no one except those you trust implicitly know where you live," Dumbledore said.

"Understandable. I and Ted were thinking of moving already, he was promoted at Saint Mungo's." She nodded. "We'll look for a new house."

"I'll stop in and add some wards," Dumbledore added. "Let me send you away with a house elf. Dina?" An elf appeared near them.

"Thank you. Most forms of magical travel are not good for young babies," Andromeda said as she held Harry, gently wrapping a blanket around him.

"Please bring Andromeda home, you've been to their place before, yes?" Dumbledore asked. When the elf nodded, he watched as she touched Andromeda and all three of them disappeared from sight. "Time to get to work," he said with a sigh.

HPHPHPHPHP

A few days later, Dumbledore found himself in the Ministry. "You aren't listening," He told Barty Crouch. "The Potter Will is explicit. Sirius Black was _not_ the Secret Keeper! It was Peter Pettigrew. You and Bagnold can't just send him to Azkaban."

"That doesn't matter," Crouch sneered. "Even if true, he still murdered twelve muggles as well as Pettigrew, that'd send him to Azkaban for life, anyway."

"Perhaps, but you should still investigate further," Dumbledore insisted. "And your men told the Prophet he was the Secret Keeper when that is patently untrue. You are maligning the character of a good man, and I won't have it."

"Keep your nose out of it, Dumbledore," Crouch ordered. "We know what we're doing, and if you don't stop, I will haul you in. You worked with both Black and Pettigrew."

Dumbledore looked amused, "Somehow, Barty, I don't think you'd be able to swing _that_ accusation. Do you really want to humiliate yourself _again_?"

Crouch's hand slipped towards his wand holster, before he caught himself. He repeated, snarling, "Stay out of it, Dumbledore," before walking away.

"I think you will find, Barty," Dumbledore warned, "That even if you succeed in the short term, your current path will lead you to ruin. Think on it."

HPHPHPHPHP

Andromeda Tonks relaxed in the kitchen as she watched a borrowed Potter elf pack her house. It had been a trying week. Learning that the Potters were dead was a blow; she had started to think of Lily as a younger sister. Taking custody of Harry was bittersweet, especially when she went to the bank with him to deal with the Potter finances. Reading their Will... it was heart-warming to know that Lily had truly wanted her to take care of Harry, and she was relieved that the Will verified that Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper. Too bad the DMLE were being bloody wankers about _that_. She might have to contact her Aunt Cassiopeia.

They were moving to a five-bedroom cottage in Suffolk, far away from other Wizarding communities. Not that this mattered with magical travel. She had already finished laying down a complicated ward scheme, including many of the more harsh defenses found in the Black houses. Once again, she was happy to have stolen so many books from the Black libraries before leaving. She'd let Dumbledore add more wards, and hopefully her Harry would be safe. Merlin, it was amazing how much the boy had wormed his way into her heart already.

"Missus Tonksie, the house is packed. Lucky will be moving it all to new place now. Would Missus like me to bring her and baby first?" When she nodded at him, Lucky popped her and Harry to their new home. Soon, boxes began to appear, as the elf began to transfer the kitchen first.

As she watched the boxes appear, Andromeda said, "Lucky, please bring Nymphadora's things next, and bring her here as well. I don't want to leave her alone in the old house too long."

"Yes, Missus Tonksie," the elf said. Not long later, Nymphadora came rushing down the stairs, "Hey mum! This place is great, more room and the yard is bigger! I have a great view from my room! Looks like we'll have enough land to go flying a bit!"

"I'm glad to hear it, Nymphadora," Andromeda responded. "Harry will be in the room next to yours, though I'm still picking him up some furniture. Be sure to tell Lucky if you want any boxes put in the attic storage."

"'k, mum!" Hopping over to look down at Harry in his small crib, she beamed, "I'm so glad Harry is here, mum. I miss Auntie Lily and Uncle James, though. I wish they didn't have to go away." The innocence of youth. "I'm glad you're taking care of him though! It's going to be great having him here, he'll be my best friend! Especially 'cause he can change like me!"

"I am too, dear," Andromeda said with a watery smile. "I wish they hadn't gone away either, I miss them."

"Mum?" Nymphadora looked down at Harry, suddenly making a decision, "I want to be like Auntie Lily. I'm going to marry Harry when we grow up."

Andromeda coughed, staring at her daughter, then started to smile. "You'll have to convince him of that, dear." Oh, she was going to have fun with this story when Nymphadora was older.

HPHPHPHPHP

In the wilderness, a young werewolf held a newspaper in his hands, sobbing. "SIRIUS BLACK NOT SECRET KEEPER. IN PRISON FOR MURDER OF PETTIGREW AND MUGGLES!"

HPHPHPHPHP

And meanwhile, as the days passed, people continued to celebrate the end of Voldemort, and the boy who somehow made it happen. After all, a mere Muggleborn witch couldn't have done anything, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, there are some station of canon changes. I tweaked how Lily saved Harry and in this, James definitely helped. Harry is not a horcrux. Sirius is in prison for murdering the muggles, but not being a Death Eater, regardless of Crouch's attempts. Tonks is four years older rather than at least seven. And Harry will be raised by Andromeda.
> 
> It took me a bit to decide that, honestly, as this is going to be a Harry/Tonks piece. But Tonks is already over the hump period for the Westermark Effect, and there's a lot of arguments about whether it's actually truly valid anyway. I figure as long as they don't get referred to as brother and sister by folks too much, it'll be fine.
> 
> Not that anything'll happen till Fourth year at minimum, but hey.
> 
> Still trying to decide which House to put him in. I lean towards Hufflepuff due to Ted and Tonks' influence, or Slytherin from Andromeda's. Harry will be _scary_ though, raised by Andromeda. I look at her as the really nice woman who you do not want to piss off or she'll rip your guts out. :)
> 
> And yeah, Harry is the BWL mostly due to Wizarding prejudice. I've always thought it was the case even in the books. Can't give Lily Potter any credit (we won't get into Rowling insisting James didn't help, either.)


	2. Hogwarts Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes to Hogwarts and meets friends, gets teased by Tonks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I really meant to write more Flower and Respawn, but this idea will _not_ leave my head. Hopefully I can write more on those now that I've gotten Harry to Hogwarts.

A figure sat in a seat on the Hogwarts Express, reading. He had jet-black hair that fell to his shoulders and gray eyes, as well as a lanky build. He was Harry James Potter, also known as Harold Tonks.

After a great many conversations with his guardians and Dumbledore, it was decided that he'd attend Hogwarts as Harold Tonks, descendant of Marius Black and distant nephew of Andromeda Tonks, adopted when his parents were killed by Death Eaters in the last war. While Dumbledore wasn't pleased at the idea, Harry and Andromeda talked him into it, Andromeda to protect him until he was an adult and Harry to avoid the silly 'Boy-Who-Lived' fame that he quite frankly didn't want. Andromeda's threat to send Harry to Beauxbatons helped. He'd worked hard practicing for this moment, and could now hold an appearance indefinitely. If anything, he found it easier to hold his form than Tonks had, though she was much better at mimicking specific people than he.

The door was suddenly pulled open, and a pink-haired girl entered, "Wotcher, cousin!" she greeted, plopping down in the seat next to him and hugging him tightly. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner, but I had a Prefect's meeting."

"Hey, Tonks," Harry said, returning the hug. When she didn't let go of him, he pushed her, "Hey, get off!"

"Nope! Not gonna, you're my big teddy bear!" Tonks teased him, causing him to roll his eyes at his cousin.

"Tonks, if you don't let go of me," Harry began, "I will tell everyone I meet your first name."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

"Meanie," Tonks declared as she let go of him, still leaning against him. "Looking forward to Hogwarts, though?"

"Sure am," Harry said with a smile. "I'm hoping I meet some fun people. Maybe be in the same House as Neville or Susan." He'd met them recently, once he could control his morphing.

"Maybe!" Tonks began to speak, when the door opened. Glancing up, they saw another kid Harry's age enter, with curly brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hi, mind if I join you? Was in another compartment, but they were getting really loud in there. And the spider." The boy spoke in an upper-crust accent, shuddering before adding, "I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Hi! You can call me Tonks," was the answer. "And this is my cousin, Harold Tonks."

"Just call me Harry," Harry told him with a smile.

"Okay. Hi, Harry. Hi... Tonks," Justin agreed. "Why just Tonks?" He wondered, looking at the pink-haired girl.

"You see, Tonks hates her first name. Don't you, Ny--" Harry didn't even get to finish the first syllable before Tonks covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shush," She ordered, "Or else."

Justin just looked between them a moment, before saying slowly, "You're very close."

"We grew up together, more or less. My parents were killed in the last war. Aunt Andi is a distant Aunt, and adopted me," Harry told Justin. "My great grandfather was kicked out of the family for being a squib. Aunt Andi was for marrying a muggleborn. So us rejects stick together," He said with a grin.

"Squib?" Justin sounded curious.

Tonks shrugged, "Opposite of a muggleborn. A non-magical person who is born to a magical family. Some of the older families like the Blacks disown squibs, kick them out of the family. Kind of bollocks, really."

Justin frowned at this, and Harry assured him, "It's only a few families, though they can be rather vocal. Mostly the pureblood twits."

"I suppose it would be too much to ask for the magical world to be perfect. The non-magical one definitely isn't," Justin said after a moment's thought.

"Perfect is boring," Harry said when the door opened and a brown-haired, chubby boy peeked into the compartment. "Hey, Neville!" He greeted him. "Justin, this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, this is Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Hi, Harry. Hi, Justin," Neville looked at Justin shyly a moment before asking, "Have you seen a toad, I've been looking for Trevor."

" **Accio toad** ," Tonks said idly as she waved her wand, and they heard a soft thump from down the hall, "That'd be your toad," she said, "Sounded like the next compartment or the one across the way, so take a look. You can come back and sit with me and these two if you like."

"I'd like that," Neville said with a smile, before turning to leave. Not long later, the boy returned with a toad in his hands and moved over to sit down beside Justin. "I haven't seen you since Ms. Tonks visited my Gran. How've you been, Harry?"

"Not too bad. Mostly reading. I read through all our books, made sure I was prepared. I suggest reading up on Potions especially, Tonks says the Potions teacher is a major prat." Harry shrugged, as he produced a few chocolate frogs from his pocket, "Chocolate frog?" He asked Justin, offering one to Neville and Tonks as well.

"He really is," Tonks interjected as she unwrapped her frog, deftly grabbing it before it could hop away and popping it into her mouth. "He once took points off a friend of mine for _wearing yellow_. She's a bloody Hufflepuff, our tie is yellow!"

"You two are not making me feel very enthusiastic about the magical world," Justin said in a dry tone.

"Oh, it can be fun, too. Quidditch is excellent, though I admit school matches make the seeker a little too important," Harry commented. "If you can, you should take your family to a reserve. I went to a dragon reserve in Wales, it was great. Hebridean Black dragons are _scary cool_ ," Harry said enthusiastically.

"You can see dragons?" Justin asked. "Okay, I admit, that's cool."

"I like plants myself," Neville offered. "There are some really fun and interesting plants. Don't get too close to a Devil's Snare, it's a giant plant that eats people, but it's cool, yeah?"

"Like a giant Venus flytrap?" Justin asked.

"Not exactly. Devil's Snare has tentacle-like vines, they strangle prey and bury the bodies beneath the plant for fertilizer," Neville explained.

"Nasty!" Amusingly, now Justin sounded excited, which caused Tonks to grin. Boys.

"So you see," Harry said with a grin, "There's cool things in the magical world too."

"So I see, I'm glad. I was down for Eton, but my parents decided it'd be better for me to go to Hogwarts. Learn my magic, some of the stuff I did when I was younger was weird. I turned all of my dad's suits pink once. He had to rush out to buy a new one. He's a solicitor."

Tonks snorted, "I like you. Reminds me of the time I and Harry pranked my dad. We found this little spell based on Every-Flavor Beans. Makes your food taste like random flavors."

"Every-Flavor Beans?" Justin asked, "What're they?"

"Candy. Here," Harry said, offering him a small box. "I don't like them much, but Tonks adores them." He ignored her denial with a grin. "Each one has a random flavor, and that favor can be anything. And I mean anything. A friend of mine swears he had a motor oil flavored bean, once."

"That sounds _disgusting_ ," Justin said. He proceeded to try one, chewing curiously. "Huh. That tasted like chicken. Weird."

"Better than some. Worst I've gotten is dirt," Harry said with a shrug. "I picked up a fair bit of candy when the lady came through earlier." The door opened, and a red-haired boy peeked in, looking around, then left. "Wonder what he wanted," Harry said with a shrug.

"Probably looking for someone," Tonks said, before grinning, "So what Houses are you hoping for?"

Harry's eyes twinkled as he stage-whispered, "Anywhere but Hufflepuff."

"HEY!" Tonks glared at him. "Wait till I tell dad."

Harry snickered. "I honestly don't care. I'd prefer not Gryffindor, simply because I hear one of the professors especially _hates_ them, but otherwise, no preference. I suspect Slytherin or Hufflepuff, though."

"I don't know the Houses well enough. I heard there were four of them, but that's all," Justin admitted.

"I'd like Gryffindor, like my parents," Neville said. "I, uh," He looked at Tonks, not saying more.

Glancing at Justin, Harry said, "Gryffindor is for the brave and chivalrous, Ravenclaw for the insightful and intelligent, Hufflepuff for the loyal hard workers, and Slytherin for the ambitious and cunning," he sounded like was partially quoting something. "Of course, that vastly simplifies things. I like to think I have elements of all the houses, for instance." He glanced at Justin, "You probably won't end up in Slytherin. Many of the pureblood prats end up there, though there are some in other houses. Not that that all Slytherins are bad by any means, Auntie was a Slytherin, and she's awesome."

"Makes sense. I think I'm fairly ambitious myself," Justin said, "But if a lot of the pureblood types you mentioned go there, it'd be difficult. Kind of like the kids who attend a feeder school on a scholarship, a lot of the other kids look down on them."

"Feeder school?" Tonks looked confused.

"Eton's a _very_ prestigious school. A lot of schools are designed to prepare you to apply to Eton. They are influential in their own right, but still cost a fair bit of money. I attended one such school. A lot of the more prattish kids bullied the poorer ones." Justin said with a shrug.

"Oh, I see," Tonks said, nodding. "Yeah, like that."

They continued to talk, and soon enough the train arrived at the station. The first years watched as Tonks split off from them, while they were led onto boats. Harry, Neville, and Justin hopped onto a boat and were joined by Susan when she saw them. "Neville! Harry!" She called, waving. With the redhead was a blond girl. "This is my friend, Hannah Abbot. Hannah, you know Neville, and this is Harold Tonks." Also in the boat was a quiet brown-haired boy who seemed to be ignoring them.

"Heya, Susan. This is Justin Finch-Fletchley," Harry introduced them. He made a point to smile and nod at the quiet boy, but didn't try to draw him into a conversation in case he was shy.

As they headed towards the castle, they talked, Susan oohing as she saw the castle for the first time. As they were led into the castle, Harry looked around at the other students, gaze lingering curiously upon the other students. He saw a pale blond boy and a redheaded boy arguing, and a pair of dark-haired twins standing together.

Soon, someone he knew swept in. Harry nodded at the stern witch as she said, "I am Professor McGonagall. Please follow me, so you may be sorted." Harry walked in along with the other students, and soon they found themselves in a line, waiting, staring at a stool with an old-looking hat upon it. The song the Sorting Hat had just sung was... strange. Professor McGonagall said as she approached the hat, "Now, simply sit, put on the hat, and each of you can be sorted."

"Abbot, Hannah."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bones, Susan."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The names continued.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Longbottom, Neville."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was some muttering when Harry Potter's name wasn't called, students looking around in confusion. Finally, it was his turn.

"Tonks, Harold."

Harry walked up and sat on the stool, putting the Sorting Hat on his head. He immediately heard a voice, 'Hello, Mr. -- Potter? Oh, my! This is unexpected. I see, however. Canny plan, very Slytherin of you. I see a great deal of loyalty, and you've worked very hard to be where you are. A good brain, too, and you can be bold, though are not one to make rash decisions. Is there any House you'd particularly like to join?'

'I'd say anywhere but Gryffindor. I hear one of the professors particularly hates Gryffindor. I think it smarter to avoid that House.'

'All right, then. Better be...'

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry got up, and set the hat on the stool, moving over to the Hufflepuff table, only to get grabbed and pulled down into a seat, "Take a seat!" said his cousin, "I'm so glad to see you in my House, Harry!" Harry couldn't help but blush as Tonks clung to him, hugging him.

Across the table, he saw an older student smile at him, "Welcome to Hufflepuff. I'm Cedric Diggory. I take it you and Tonks are related."

"Harold Tonks, and get off me, Tonks!" he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, Cedric. And yeah, her mother is kind of an aunt of mine. My parents died during the last war, and she became my guardian," he explained. "I and Tonks grew up together."

"Kind of an aunt?" asked Hannah, who was sitting not far away.

"Yeah, it's a bit complicated. My great-grandfather was her great-uncle. He was kicked out of the family for being a squib," Harry explained with a shrug. "She kept in touch and when my parents passed..." he trailed off.

"Harry is great. Helps me all the time with pranks at home," Tonks boasted. "He's really good on a broom, too. Best Keeper I've seen, I can rarely get a quaffle past him when we practice."

"Oh really?" Cedric said, looking at Harry, "Maybe you can try out next year. We have a Keeper, but he's graduating this year," he explained.

"That could be fun," Harry admits. "Will depend on how well I do on my classes though, I promised Auntie I'd do well."

"Neeeerd," Tonks says, pointing at Harry.

"No, I just don't want her disappointed in me. There's a difference," Harry stated with a slight sniff.

Tonks smirked at Harry, and whispers again, "Nerd." She again starts to eat, glancing towards Cedric, "Joking aside, I do suggest Harry next year. He'd be a shoe-in. We've seen Wood and I honestly think Harry's better."

"What's so good about Quidditch?" asked Justin, only to get a shocked gasp from Cedric. Who was playing for humor, "Good about Quidditch, it's only the best sport _ever_!" He began to explain Quidditch to the other boy as he ate, which let Harry focus on his own food as he listened.

"So it sounds like a more complicated version of footie where you fly on brooms," Justin decides, eliciting a laugh from Harry and Tonks.

"Well, he's not wrong," Tonks said with a smirk at Cedric's injured look.

Harry continued eating as they chatted, and soon dinner was done. He saw Dumbledore rise to speak. "I'm glad to see everyone enjoyed dinner. Now, a few announcements, if you please." Harry listened with one ear, blinking at the last announcement as Dumbledore said, "Finally, the third floor hallway is off-limits due to renovation. Please don't attempt to enter as construction can be dangerous."

"Huh, Renovation during the school year," Harry said to Tonks.

"Kind of rare, usually that sort of thing is done during the Summer. I wonder what happened," was Tonks' response.

"Probably never know," Harry shrugged.

HPHPHPHPHP

Soon enough, dinner was over and after a rather lackluster school song, Tonks called out, "Okay, kiddos. Follow me, I'll show you the way." Her hair and turned a vibrant yellow and black matching Hufflepuff colors, a few gasps of surprise coming at the sight. She was joined by a boy her age, as she continued to the first years, "You can call me Tonks. This is Eliot Shafiq. You can call him Eli."

"Eliot."

"Like I said, Eli." Tonks continued blithely, grinning. "The Hufflepuff dorms are down this way," she continued, leading them down a hallway, into a niche with some barrels in it. "See, to get in, just tap this rhythm," she continued, suiting action to words, "Hel-ga-huff-le-puff." With that, the front of a large barrel opened. As she stepped in, Tonks continued, "And here we are. We call this the Sett."

Harry looked around the room curiously, standing on his tiptoes to look over some of the other students. The Sett was a large room, its color scheme a mixture of dark honey and cream. There were many sofas and chairs scattered around, as well as some tables for study, and the room was absolutely _covered_ with plants. "Oh geez," Harry said to Susan. "Poor Neville would have loved this place."

"Yeah," Susan agreed. "We'll have to tease him. I wonder if we can bring friends here?"

"Now, welcome to the best House in Hogwarts, if I do say so myself," Tonks began, as she stepped forward again. "You will be staying with us for seven years, so welcome to the family. That hallway is for first years," she said, gesturing. "Each room is for two students, though you can't share a room with the opposite sex. Feel free to pair up, we'll then send your belongings into your rooms."

Watching Susan pair up with Hannah, Harry glanced at Justin, "Want to room together?" He asked, and Justin nodded with a smile.

"Remember, we don't separate the dorms by gender, but you still should not be found in a room doing something you shouldn't." Waggling a finger, Tonks grinned, "We probably don't have to worry about that for now, but who knows, someone might be precocious." She continued, "Professor Sprout will give class schedules on the 'morrow. Hufflepuffs help each other. You'll find tutoring available on the notice board sometime tomorrow, and feel free to help each other when people need it. Be supportive of the fifth years like myself and Eli, and the seventh years. We have important exams at the end of the year. However, I and Eli are prefects and are more than willing to help you with anything you need, as will the other prefects."

"You will find a few clubs at Hogwarts, though they change year by year." Eli stepped in here. "The list for this year includes a Chess Club, Choral Club, Gobstones Club, and a Potions Club. A few others are being considered as well. There is Quidditch, of course, but you're first years. You can sign up for those clubs in the Library. Hufflepuff offers a few other clubs, including a Fencing Club, Footie club, Library Club, and a Literature Club. Feel free to sign up for those at the notice board, and if you need materials for any of the clubs, talk to Professor Sprout, she'll help you with the order forms." she finished, pointing towards the board by the doorway.

"Oh," Justin said to Harry. "They have a footie club! I love footie."

"I'll probably join that one and the Fencing club. Auntie made me learn fencing, she said it was important for a 'proper gentleman', but it's really fun. I may join the Literature Club too if I have time, depends on what they like to read." Harry sounded excited. He raised his hand, "What's the difference between the Library Club and Literature Club, sir?"

"Just call me Eliot. The Library Club focuses on academic research, learning about the magical world, magic, and so on. Literature Club focuses on fiction, mostly Muggle as there's a lot more of it in the Muggle world."

"Geez," Harry said to Justin, "Tack on another club. I wonder if I'll have room for all of this," he says with a grin.

Eli grins at Harry, "A lot of the clubs allow auditing, so you won't have a problem if you have interests but can't participate all of the time."

Tonks steps up again, and says, "All right, kiddos. Choose an empty room in the hall, your things will appear in a few minutes, and then go to bed. Tomorrow will come bright and early."

Heading into the hall, Harry considered, then walked along it, "Let's get the last room, more privacy I bet," he said. They entered the room and Harry sat on one of the beds. Beside the beds, there were two desks and small bookcases, as well as long table between the desks. On the walls of the room were a variety of planters, vibrant plants giving the room color. Near each bed was a plant that seemed to glow, acting as a night light of sorts.

"What do you think?" Justin asked. "I'm liking this place, so far. It seems really homey and people are nice."

"I knew they would be, Tonks said so," Harry said to him. "Nice to see, though. I'm looking forward to classes."

"Oh? Which ones? I like the sound of Charms," Justin said.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, definitely." Harry answered, "Aunt Andi taught me a lot, already. Also Transfiguration. I'd be interested in Potions, but I hear the teacher is horrible. Luckily, Uncle Ted is a Healer and has a Mastery in Potions, I'll probably have to learn from him on holidays and during the Summer."

"How do you mean, horrible? You mentioned that on the train," Justin noted.

"From what Tonks told me, he's horribly biased. Only gives points to his House, and will take points away for no reason if you're from another House, especially Gryffindor." Harry wrinkled his nose, "Also doesn't really teach. Just puts a recipe on the board and tells you to make the potion."

"Ugh, that sounds horrible. I may have to ask you for help, then, if you've learned from your Uncle." Justin said, blinking as he saw his trunk appear at the foot of his bed and another at the foot of Harry's. "What?"

"Probably House Elves," Harry said. "Creatures who serve wizards, they bond to wizards because they need magic. Some are abused, sadly, but like we said on the train, they're evil prats." He dug through his trunk, opening it up and offering Justin a pair of thin books. "Here, read these. They'll be very useful; they tell you how to prepare ingredients and the why to certain things like directional stirring. I don't know why they're not on the book list. Well, I do, bigotry once more. Just put them in my bookcase there after you're done."

"Oh, thanks!" As Justin opened one of the books, Harry began to take out books from his trunk, filling his bookcase with schoolbooks and a few other books he'll read regularly, and hanging his book bag on the chair in front of his desk.

Once he'd unpacked, Harry changed into his pajamas and slid into bed. "Good night. See you tomorrow." As he pulled the curtain on his bed shut, the lights in the room went off, though there was enough light from the plants to see or even read by.

"Night!" came Justin's response, curled up in bed, still reading.

HPHPHPHPHP

After the students have gone to bed, Dumbledore found himself speaking to McGonagall.

"Are you sure about all this, Albus? This is dangerous," his Deputy complained.

"The centaurs told Hagrid that someone was bleeding unicorns over the summer. Someone dark is in the area, and I've felt someone testing and hiding from the Hogwarts wards. It isn't a student, it could be a teacher or someone who's managed to sneak into the school," Dumbledore said.

"Shouldn't we close the school?"

"I think that'd be a bad decision, and we can't really do it without proof. The Board wouldn't let me," was Dumbledore's answer. "We don't know for sure _who_ it is, and if we close the school, he could flee. I've spread rumors through Hagrid of the Philosopher's Stone being here. Hopefully it points him to the Third Floor Hallway away from the students, where we've set up the trap for him."

"Still..." the woman sighed. "The students can't get in, can they?"

"No, no they can't, I made sure of that," Dumbledore amended. "Well, some upper years might be able to if they figure out the animation charm on the door," he admitted, "But I'd like to think they're smart enough not to."

McGonagall sighed. "Let's hope you're right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you know why the title is a "Masquerade". Harry is not going to be Harry James Potter at Hogwarts, but instead Harold Tonks. At least for a while. It will come out.
> 
> So, yeah. We're having a Dumbledore, even flawed, who isn't a moron. No basically daring students to enter the hallway. He also didn't draw Voldemort into the school, instead trying to trap him because he's already there. I'm using his flaws in canon, extreme arrogance coupled with being over trusting, but trying to avoid the outright plot-necessary idiocy.
> 
> And yes, Snape was a total _prat_ as a teacher. I'm not changing it. I'm unlikely to make him a triple agent, he _is_ working for Dumbledore. However, he is not a nice man, has major issues, and is a colossal bully to his students. There's a reason Neville's boggart was Snape.


	3. First Classes, School Life, and Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harold Tonks makes a place for himself at Hogwarts. People wonder where Harry Potter is.

The next morning had Harry waking up early, as was his habit. Stretching, the young boy prepared his clothes for the day and slipped out to take a shower and get dressed. Emerging from the boys' showers, Harry quickly returned to his and Justin's room to pick up a book and headed back out to the common room, sitting down in front of the fire to read.

About a half hour later, someone sat beside him. Glancing up, he flashed a smile, recognizing them. "Hey, Hannah, wasn't it?"

"Yup. How're you, Harold?" she asked as she opened a small book. "What're you reading?"

"Oh, Merlin. Harry, please. Harold makes me sound old," Harry said with a smile. "As for what I'm reading," he held up the book, showing her the title: **Creatures and Curses: A Guide to Dark Forces**. "Aunt Andi said I might be good at dueling, so I thought I'd do some reading on Defense." He glanced at her, "What 'bout you?"

Hannah blushed slightly, and said, "Muggle poetry. I especially like Burns."

"Nothing wrong with that. I'm a fan of Thomas and Snyder myself," Harry said with a shrug. He glanced down at his book, reading for a bit, giving her time to read as well. "Looking forward to classes?"

Glancing up shyly, Hannah nodded, "Yes! Especially Herbology and Potions! I love gardening, I help my mum with her garden, and I want to be a healer, so need to be good at potions."

"Hmmm." Harry got up, "One moment," he said before going to his room and after a moment returned with the same two books he let Justin borrow. "I suggest reading these, then. From what Tonks tells me, Snape doesn't teach very well, they'll be useful for Potions." Harry felt that at this rate, he'd be tutoring potions himself.

"Oh, thank you!" Hannah said, putting down her book and accepting the two Harry offered. "I'll give them back when I'm done."

"Sure, or just pop into my room and drop 'em off on my desk," Harry said with a smile. He glanced up as he heard movement and saw a familiar figure enter. "'lo, Tonks!"

"'lo, Harry! Hello there, Hannah, wasn't it?" Tonks greeted the pair at their seats. "Is my Harry treating you right?"

"Hi, Tonks," Hannah said, still shy. "And Harry is being really nice."

"Hey, wait a minute! Since when," Harry asked, "Have I been 'your Harry'."

"Why, since you were a baby, of course," Tonks answered with a cheeky smile. She pulled out her wand, and glanced at it a moment as numbers appeared, "'bout time for breakfast, why don't you two get ready? I'm taking the early risers down to breakfast, Eli's handling the late risers."

"I'm ready now," Harry said with a shrug, glancing over at Hannah, who nodded as well.

"'k," Tonks rose to her feet, looking around. "You two are the only ones up this early, so I guess I take you. Eli gets the hard job for once," she quipped. "Down we go."

Following Tonks, Harry and Hannah had breakfast, chatting. Or rather, chatting while Tonks occasionally teased Harry. Others started to trickle in, and Eli brought in a large group as well, giving Tonks a wave as they sat down. Harry grinned at Justin and Susan as they saw down not far from him, and began to eat.

Not long after, Professor Sprout arrived and began to hand out schedules. Harry looked his over curiously, though he knew from Tonks that it wouldn't get too busy till third year. "Hmm, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, and Transfiguration today. Two real classes and a study hall, I guess," Harry observed to those near him.

"Study hall?" Susan asked.

"Sadly, Binns doesn’t teach," Tonks explained, "He just reads from the book, usually about goblin rebellions. Just be sure you study the book throughout the year and you'll do fine. I suggest if you're actually interested in History that you look into a few other books; you should ask Cedric over there as he's a big history buff."

"Guilty. I was upset when I learned I'd have to do all my History through self study if I wanted to do well enough to work in law." Cedric said to them, "I'm going to get a tutor after my OWLs so I can take the Magical Law NEWT," he explained easily.

"Magical Law?" asked Susan in an interested tone.

"There are a few NEWT courses that aren't taught here. Alchemy, Healing, and Magical Law are the main ones, but there are some others," Tonks said with a shrug. "There used to be more courses, but with Grindelwald and Voldemort," she ignored the gasps as she said the name, "the student population is low enough that the classes just wouldn't have enough people in them to make it feasible."

"That sucks," Justin said, "I rather like the idea of taking Magical Law, when I'm older. I was going to be a solicitor like my dad."

"You still can, you just need to hire a tutor," Cedric told him. "I can pass on the names of a few good tutors, as I'll be looking into it myself."

They discussed classes more, until it was time to head to class.

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry was disappointed with his first class. Professor Quirrel was a _horrible_ teacher, and his stuttering was annoying. The scent of garlic gave him a slight headache. At least the text book was interesting, though Aunt Andi had shown him many of the spells already. He looked forward to coming home on break, as Auntie and Tonks had promised to help him get ahead now that he had a wand. He wanted to be finished with second year spells by the end of his first year.

After class, he commented to Justin, "Well, that wasn't too much fun. It's hard to understand Professor Quirrel sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Justin said, making a face.

"There's a lot of classrooms not in use. We can always commandeer one," Harry told him, "To use as a study space. We're not allowed to cast in the halls. Classrooms are another story."

"That's a good idea! We can clear it out, and use it as our private study area," Justin said enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Maybe ask Tonks to help, so we can lock it, or hide the door, or something," Harry agreed. "I know Aunt Andi can do things like that. That way, we can leave some books and papers there without worrying about them being stolen."

The less said about History of Magic the better, but Transfiguration was interesting.

When they entered the classroom, Harry saw a cat sitting on the desk. He recognized who she was, but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to ruin her surprise. He did, however, pet the cat's ears, eyes twinkling with mischief before sitting next to Justin and Susan.

"What were you doing?" whispered Justin.

"I like cats. Just watch," Harry said with a grin, as he took two books out of his bag and put them on the desk.

Not long later, the cat jumped off the desk, turning into Professor McGonagall. "Good afternoon, class, welcome to your first class of Transfiguration."

"See?" Harry told the others as they listened to the Professor give her introduction.

"Transfiguration is a demanding discipline. It requires control and focus. I won't be happy if anyone plays around in class. But if you learn, you can do many amazing things," she said as she waved her wand and a book on her desk turned into a puppy, who barked, causing some of the girls to coo. She reversed the transfiguration, and said, "You should have read the first chapter in your book by now. If not, please do so before attempting this transfiguration. The first thing we will do is work on a simple transfiguration to change matches into needles. The spell is 'Mutatio Inanimata'." She had one of the students in the front hand them out to everyone, and motioned for people to begin.

Harry looked at the match, and waved his wand as directed, murmuring. " **Mutatio Inanimata**." It felt strange, almost as if his magic _knew_ what to do, but the match remained stubbornly un-transfigured. Another try had the same result, though the magic felt more right than before. Considering, he imagined the match changing in detail, match turning to metal and said the words a third time. This time, the match changed, becoming a perfect silvery needle. "Third time's the charm," he murmured to himself, pleased. He decided to practice, carefully waving his wand and murmuring the incantation as he envisioned the eye of the needle, turning it a soft yellow color and forming an elegant groove around the eye. He nodded to himself.

"How'd you do that?" murmured Justin.

Harry responded, "Don't just imagine the end result. Imagine the needle slowly changing as you say the words. You have to focus on two things while saying the words: your magic and what you want it to do, all at once." Focusing on both is the tough part.

"Talking in class, Mr. Tonks? Shouldn't you--" Professor McGonagall began as she walked towards them, when Harry pointed at his needle. "Oh my, very fine work. Ten points to Hufflepuff."

"I saw that Harry had finished, and asked him for advice, Professor," Justin explained. "He was helping me."

"I see," Professor McGonagall said, "All right then." She turned, and picked up a few matches from her desk and put them in front of Harry, "For practice. And five more points to Hufflepuff for helping a fellow student, Mr. Tonks."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said as he picked up his wand again. He said to Justin, "Just imagine it while casting, the match slowly turning silver, one end turning pointy and the other forming the eye." He put words to action and murmured, " **Mutatio Inanimata** " This time, he managed to do everything at once, and he had a second needle with a yellow, grooved eye. "Like so. Seeing it in your head is important, I think. I was having problems till I tried that."

By the end of the class, Justin managed the transfiguration, as did Susan and Hannah and a Ravenclaw by the name of Su Li. Some others had managed a partial transfiguration. As he rose to his feet, Harry gathered the needles, placing them on the desk and turned to follow his friends. "That was an interesting class. I think I like transfiguration," he told Justin.

"I agree! It's a little hard managing everything at once, but I think it was fun," Justin said. Behind them, Hannah and Susan nodded as they headed towards the Hufflepuff Common Room to put away their books before dinner.

HPHPHPHPHP

The days passed and classes continued. Harry's first Charms class was simple, and as expected he really didn't like the Potions class, though at least Professor Snape seemed ignorant of his true identity.

Harry made a name of himself in his classes, being one of the best students in his year. Others were better at certain subjects; for instance, Justin was better at History than he and Susan was a lot better at Astronomy, which frankly bored him. Harry also wasn't the very best at magical theory; that accolade was split between Daphne Greengrass and Padma Patil. He _was_ a close contender for third, though sometimes Hermione Granger beat him there. But he was no slouch, and he was by far the best at practical spell work.

He and Justin had spoken to Tonks and she had helped them by casting a few simple wards on an empty classroom for them.

Harry found himself sitting in the Hufflepuff Common Room, writing a letter home and listening to the others talk. He glanced up when he heard something interesting, "What'd you say?"

"I said that I saw Hagrid going into the third floor hallway carrying a big package," Justin explained. "The stairs changed direction and I ended up there. I saw him disappearing into the hallway while I waited for the stairs to move again."

"Huh, maybe he was delivering something to the workmen and house elves," Harry said after a moment's thought before dismissing it. He glanced at Susan, who was sitting nearby, "Could you help me with my History homework? I'll help with that Transfiguration essay."

"Sure, Harry, I'd appreciate that," Susan said with a smile. Harry got up, moving to one of the tables and pulled open his book bag, retrieving parchment, quills, and ink. She asked as she moved to sit down beside him, "Transfiguration first?"

"No need for the puppy dog eyes," Harry said with a chuckle, "We can do that first. I really just need you to look over my essay and maybe make a few suggestions on things I might've missed. What do you have problems with?"

"I'm supposed to say why when you transfigure..." Susan began to explain and listened as Harry pointed out a few suggestions. He was enjoying his school life.

HPHPHPHPHP

"Where is Harry Potter? Why isn't he at Hogwarts?" asked Fudge, wiping his brow with his handkerchief nervously.

"His guardian decided that Harry Potter wouldn't attend Hogwarts. That's her right, Cornelius," Dumbledore explained.

"But it's _Harry Potter_! What will people think if he isn't attending Hogwarts?" Fudge demanded. "What can I say to them?"

"Tell them the truth, that he's learning under the finest teachers in Britain," Dumbledore said. "You should be happy that I managed to talk his guardian out of sending him to Beauxbatons, imagine what would have been said if _that_ happened," Dumbledore pointed out.

Fudge blanched, taking a step back. "Perhaps I should talk to the Wizengamot about having his guardian changed. I'm still upset at you for keeping who it is a secret," he murmured to himself, only to blink at Dumbledore's _glare_.

"That would be a bad idea. His guardian is of dual citizenship, thus so is Harry. If you did that, they could simply leave Britain, which would only make things worse for you." It was true, too. Andromeda was not a stupid woman.

"B-but!" Fudge stammered. This was going to be trouble.

"How about this?" Dumbledore asked with a sigh. "I can talk to his guardian, see if she's willing to attend the Ministry Yule Festival so people can see he's safe and happy."

Fudge considered. That could work, especially if people saw the boy talking to him. He nodded, "All right, that works. Did his guardian say _why_ she didn't want him to attend Hogwarts?"

"Safety, for one. She doesn't believe that everyone who followed Voldemort were arrested, which is true. Minister Bagnold was rather lenient at times. It would be bad for _all_ of us if something happened to the boy." He suspected bribes, but saying that to Fudge would be ill advised. Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders, "Granted, I believe it's safe here but I can hardly argue with a parent who wants to ensure her child's safety. She also knows that Harry hates his fame, and thinks he'd fine it difficult here with everyone looking at him. That's why she considered Beauxbatons, the 'Boy-Who-Lived' title is rather less a household name on the continent, though they know of him."

Fudge made a face, but could hardly argue the point. Well, he could, but it'd be stupid of him. "As long as we see him at Yule to talk to, that'll be fine," he said to Dumbledore, sighing. "I know Lucius has been most concerned."

"Oh, I'm sure," Dumbledore said, with a fake smile. "I'll talk to his guardians. I just talked to him the other day actually, he is most focused on his studies. He's doing very well. It makes me wish Harry Potter was here, I bet he'd make his House proud."

"Oh really? What House do you think he'd be sorted into?" Fudge focused on this, relaxing. At least he'd see the boy in a few months.

"Oh, Cornelius, I'm pretty sure he'd be either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. He's very smart and a hard worker," Dumbledore began as he carefully redirected the Minister's interest.

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry made his way through the common room and sat down by Justin and Susan, "What's up?" he asked curiously. He saw Tonks sitting to the side, her eyes twinkling with amusement for some reason.

"Oh, we were talking," Justin told him. "Apparently this Harry Potter guy didn't attend Hogwarts like he was expected to. I heard that Malfoy prat in Slytherin talking about it. He was saying that Potter was probably a squib or idiot and didn't make it into Hogwarts."

"That's Malfoy, though," Susan said with a sigh. "I feel sorry for Daphne and Blaise, having to deal with him. I am curious, though. You're a muggleborn, so wouldn't know, but in the Wizarding world he's an icon. There were these books being published a while back about him, rather silly ones where he tamed nundu and rode dragons. They were taken down because whoever his guardian was had the goblins sue them. That was big news. I actually own one or two of them still."

"Well, if they didn't get permission to publish them, that makes sense," Justin said after a moment's thought. "What do you think, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, saying carefully, "I think if I were Harry Potter, I'd not want to come to Hogwarts. Susan's right, he's a bloody _icon_. Think about how he'd be treated here. I bet there's a Harry Potter fan club for Merlin's sake. He's supposedly wealthy, so I'd hire tutors if I were him."

He ignored Tonks' grin at his words, only to wince as she spoke up, "Oh, there is. It's not official, but I believe that there's a few members in our House!"

"Oh Lord," Harry said dryly, "Yeah, I'd pity him then."

Justin couldn't help it, he snickered, while Susan giggled, "I think Megan Jones is in it." Tonks nodded at her.

Harry just shook his head, pointing at Susan, "There, see?" He chuckled. "I think it's silly anyway. It's a lot more likely that his mother or father did something than that he was some sort of super-baby. It's probably hard on him."

Unseen by the pair, he saw Tonks give him a look. He had to be careful. He glanced at Justin, who answered with a nod, "You have a point."

"You do, though I'd be careful saying it. Some might think you were jealous or something," Susan said to him.

Harry wrinkled his nose, "Yeah, you're probably right." He chuckled. "I bet if Malfoy's talking about it, a lot of people are. There's probably a whole big mystery by now. I wonder if it'll be in the paper."

"Oh, Morgana," Susan said with a laugh. "It probably will be."

HPHPHPHPHP

The next day, Harry's prediction was proven true. Tonks sat by him when he came down to breakfast and put a paper in front of him, "Look, cousin! You were right!" He glanced down at the headline.

**_Harry Potter Not Attending Hogwarts!_ **

Harry sighed and said to her even as she laughed at him, "I hate you, Tonks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> " **Mutatio Inanimata** " = "Change Inanimate"
> 
> I've decided that Harry is smart in this story. He is the child of Lily and James, who were both quite intelligent, and hasn't been beaten down nor is he lacking in confidence like in the canon story line. However, I'm not making him the smartest in pure academics. To use metaphor, he's more talented as an engineer rather than as a scientist. He'll be good at spell casting and perhaps creation, if I go that way. I figure he'll be in the top five throughout his Hogwarts years in theory. Thanks to one or two other things, however, he's the very best at practical spell work. Basically Daphne/Padma/Hermione > Harry in theory, in general. :) He's likely beating Hermione first term because she has a lot of catch up to do as Harry's had pre-Hogwarts teaching, as have Daphne and Padma.
> 
> I love writing a smart Dumbledore. He is being very careful in his speech so if he's questioned later, he'll be able to answer honestly. Harry Potter is not attending Hogwarts, Harold Tonks is. He wishes Harry Potter were there to earn points. And so on. :)


	4. Dueling and Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of school fluff and then a somewhat different version of Halloween. :)

As the days turned to weeks, Harry found himself studying and chatting with Justin and Susan a lot when not hanging around Tonks. The room he and Justin had claimed became a study room of sorts after they had Tonks put basic protections on the room to ensure their privacy. Harry and Susan developed something of a rivalry, both loving the Defense class and rather annoyed at Quirrel's lack of teaching ability. Meanwhile, Justin seemed obsessed with History and was being tutored on Wizarding etiquette by Cedric.

To Justin's amusement, this rivalry often led to Harry and Susan practicing dueling, as they decided that if Quirrel wasn't going to teach them, they would teach themselves. In this, Harry had an advantage as he seemed to learn magic quite easily, but Susan refused to back down. Both were rather advanced for first years, and even Justin knew a few spells from higher years if only to help counter the pair's dueling antics.

"You two ready?" Justin asked them. He was sitting near the back of the room, while Harry and Susan stood on either end of the room, near a wall. "Remember, you're practicing accuracy and dodging, not actual spell work, so keep it to Tickling Charms. Three, two, one...go!"

Harry reacted first, " **Rictusempra**!"

Susan sidestepped the silvery light and responded with one of her own, which Harry dodged deftly. Soon, they were sending the spells at each other quickly; casting and moving at the same time was more complicated than simply standing and flinging spells.

Eventually, Susan managed to tag Harry, and they stopped while Harry laughed. Justin pointed his and at Harry and muttered, " **Finite Incantatem** ," canceling the spell.

"I got you!" Susan cheered, and Harry gave her a look and a pout, though his gray eyes were twinkling. "I was beginning to worry, you won the last three matches," she pointed out.

"I'm faster, is all," Harry said with a shrug, "You're really good with your wand. You shouldn't worry."

Susan beamed at him, then bounced over towards Justin, peeking over his shoulder, "What're you reading, Justin?"

The posh young man blushed slightly and lifted his book to show the title: **Wizarding Holidays of Britain** , "Cedric suggested it. He said that especially as a Muggleborn, I'll need to learn about how Wizarding culture is different. The difference between Christmas and Yule is interesting, and so is Samhain."

"He's right. I never really knew much about Halloween till Hannah told me," Susan said to him. "Samhain's a lot different, more solemn."

"I really wish there was a class on this," Justin said, making a face. "I kind of feel like I'm still trying to catch up."

"It'd be nice," Harry said as he settled into a seat, opening one of his books. "Problem is, there's not enough Muggleborns for a full class. There's like five in our year, I think? Also, the prats wouldn't allow even a club to be funded. They don't _want_ you to understand the culture."

"Malfoy," Justin said, wrinkling his nose. He'd had a run-in with the Slytherin boy recently that had ended with detention on both sides.

"He's one of 'em, as well as Parkinson and Nott," Harry acknowledged. "Not just them, though. Auntie said the last time it got brought up, Zacharias Smith's father was very much against a club being formed and he's in our House. There are a lot of prats out there."

"Best thing to do is what you're doing," Susan said. "Ask around, get books, and educate yourself." She glanced at Harry, "What are you reading, Harry?"

"It's an old book Auntie gave me. Gives some tips on advanced dueling techniques. Some of the ideas are really interesting." He lifted his wand, whispering, " **Averto**." A shield similar to a Protego formed, slowly shrinking before it popped out of existence.

"That looked like the Shielding Charm," Susan observed, perking up.

"It's called the Volley Charm, and is similar, yes. It blocks everything a Shielding Charm does, and a bit more. You're supposed to make it just big enough to parry a spell. With skill, you can parry spells away from yourself or even redirect them back at the attacker. Of course, if you miss, you get hit," Harry said with a shrug. "It won't stop the Unforgivable Curses, though. Need a physical shield for those."

"Oh, that's useful, offense and defense in one spell," Susan agreed.

"Yes, but only if you're good," Harry chuckled. "Need a lot of practice. You want to help make me laugh?" He quipped. "I'm sure I'll miss a lot, especially at first."

"Wait. You _want_ me to cast spells at you and try to hit you, and you won't cast back?" The look Susan gave him was almost malevolent. "Deal."

"I will prepare to cast a lot of counter spells," Justin offered, voice dry. "I think you'll..." And Harry started to laugh as Susan nailed him with a Tickling Charm. "... **Finite Incantantem**. Need it."

HPHPHPHPHP

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks called as she plopped down onto the couch beside him. "How's my favorite cousin?"

"I hope I'm your favorite cousin, Tonks. I mean, compared to Malfoy..." Harry quipped, his voice amused.

"You know what I meant," she declared, mussing his hair.

"Hey! Lay off the hair!" Harry tried to fix his hair, giving her a look. If he cheated and used his metamorphmagus abilities, at least it _looked_ like he rearranged it naturally.

"Oh, Merlin, are you channeling Malfoy now?" Tonks quipped.

He gave her a look. "Don't even. So, what's up, Tonks?" Harry asked.

"I talked to mum the other day at Hogsmeade. She wanted to know how you're doing, what with everything, and made me promise to check on you for her as your letters were more about classwork." She wasn't going to mention who he was unless they were assured of privacy.

"I'm doing pretty well. Potions is dumb, but Snape ignores me for the most part, as we aren't sharing the class with Slytherin. I, Susan, and to a lesser extent Justin are doing self study in Defense as Quirrel is an idiot." Harry shrugged.

"Now I know how mum feels. What about girls? Friends?" Tonks said dryly. "Have you felt any tickles?" Tonks asked.

"I told you what I was doing with my friends, Tonks, and I'm too young for girls! I joined the Fencing and Library Clubs, and drop in on Footie now and again. You already _know_ that," he said with an eye roll before answering her other question. "No 'tickles', which is good. I doubt I could keep out more than the weakest legilimency attack right now, I only started learning Occlumency this year. I wish it was possible to learn before your magic stabilized," Harry said, making a face.

"Don't I know it. At least I'll be ahead by the time I go in for Auror training," Tonks said brightly.

"I may have you start hitting me with Legilimency to practice at some point. Maybe give me some tips to teach Justin, I bet Susan is already learning it from her Aunt," Harry said before suddenly grinning, "I'm sure you'd get some blackmail material, too."

"Why, Harry. I would never... refuse such a _grand_ idea!" Tonks smirked at him.

"Don't forget," Harry warned, "I have some stories I could tell people too. Like the time you dressed up for Halloween and..."

"Shush!" Tonks said, holding her hand over his mouth, "You wouldn't tell on lil' ol' me, would you?" Tonks asked as she bat her eyes.

"Try me," Harry said with a smirk.

"So mean. My cousin is such a meanie," Tonks said dramatically, before smirking at him, "Keep it up and I'll tell mum I caught you crying and homesick. She'd visit just to hug you."

"Oh, Merlin," Harry said, giving Tonks a look, "Do you really want to go there, Tonks? Do you want to go into a pranking war? You know I play for keeps," he reminded her with a grin.

Tonks paused. Part of her wanted to push things. But, last time she got into a prank war with him, he pranked her mum and framed her for it. She was honestly a little surprised he'd gotten sorted into Hufflepuff. But she had her pride! "All right, I won't tell mum," she promised. A pause. And then she waved her wand, skipping away.

Harry looked down at himself. And saw bright pink. "Tonks, I'm going to _get_ you for this!" He murmured " **Finite**." His robes turned yellow with green polka dots.

He sighed, and headed to his room to change.

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry was in "his" classroom, reading. He hadn't wanted to go down to the Halloween celebration, and had told his friends he wanted to finish their Transfiguration essay for the week. Flipping through his notes, he pursed his lips, considering. He'd have to ask Auntie to suggest a few new books for him.

Closing the books, he leaned back in his chair, thinking. After a few moments, he moved to sit quietly on the floor, trying to meditate so he could practice his Occlumency. He only managed a few minutes when he heard a sound from outside, a heavy footstep. He frowned. That was even louder than Hagrid.

Getting to his feet, he approached the door and opening it, peeked outside. He saw a bloody _troll_ moving down the hallway. What the...? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement as someone entered the girls' bathroom across the way. He frowned, considering.

Smarter to avoid a fight. He waited for the troll to move further down the hallway, and then _changed_ , making himself look like Susan, who he knew was down at the feast. With that, he opened the classroom door, shutting it quietly and moved to enter the bathroom across the way. He'd expect screaming and hiding if someone saw a troll, not casually entering a bathroom.

As he entered the room, he heard a scraping sound, but entering further, he looked around. No one was there. He frowned, and pushed open the half-open stalls.

Nothing.

Running his hand through his (well, Susan's) hair, he thought a moment before sighing, and moving to leave. As he stepped out of the bathroom, he changed back to his "Black" form: long, jet black hair and light gray eyes. Part of him wanted to go check on the troll, but he knew it was smarter to let staff deal with it. Surely Dumbledore would detect it with the castle's defenses, right?

He heard a scream echo down the hall, and he swore under his breath. Or not. Turning, he raced down the hallway. It ran the length of the school, and from the scream, whoever it was was at the opposite end.

Soon, he found himself outside the other girls' bathroom. He heard another scream and darted inside. On the floor was a bushy-haired girl; he recognized her: Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor. Standing over her was a troll holding a club. It was slowly lifting it, obviously intending to crush her with it.

Mind whirling, Harry was unsure what to do. Trolls were resistant to magic. What could he do? 'Go for the club, you idiot,' he thought, crying out, " **Diffindo**!" He felt a surge of power and staggered, realizing he overpowered the spell. As he watched the flash of red light slice through the club and the end explode into splinters, he realized he _way_ overpowered the spell. The troll turned towards him as the club fell at its feet, causing Hermione to scream as it landed near her.

"Hey, ugly, I'm over here!" called Harry, as he backed up. The troll lumbered towards him, growling, and he turned and darted out the doorway, hearing the loud thumping as the creature followed him. Heading towards the stairs, Harry turned, waiting for the troll to near him. As it ran towards him, he took a deep breath. And yelled, " **Flipendo** " when it came close.

The creature staggered, taking a step back. Its magic resistance negated most of the force of the spell, but that was to be expected. Harry called again, trying to push more magic into the spell, " **Flipendo**! **Flipendo**! **_Flipendo_**!" Each spell caused it to take a step back, the final spell pushing it into the railing and it fell over the edge. A loud crack could be heard, and Harry looked over the edge. On the ground below was the troll. Either unconscious or dead.

Harry staggered, almost falling to his knees. He was exhausted. He heard footsteps and turned to see Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. "Mr... Mr. Tonks! What're you doing here, you should be with your fellow students!"

She stuttered over his name; at least she didn't start to say 'Potter'. "Huh?" Harry was confused, before he explained, "I wanted to get my Transfiguration essay done, and was in one of the classrooms studying." He gestured down the hall. "I heard a scream, and came to see if something was wrong. I found Hermione Granger on the floor in the bathroom, a troll standing over her about to hit her with its club. I cast a Severing Charm at its club to disarm it and then distracted it so it'd chase me." He shrugged, "When it got near the stairs, I kept hitting it with Knockback Jinxes, as strong as I could cast them. Even with its resistance, it took a step or two back with each one. Eventually, I got it over the railing." He ran his fingers through his hair, "It was the only thing I could think of, as I sure couldn't think of anything else, I know trolls are hard to affect with spells."

McGonagall's mouth opened in surprise, staring at him. She said after a minute, "The Severing Charm is second year material." Flitwick headed down the stairs, examining the troll.

"I, Justin, and Susan have studied ahead; we like the idea of dueling someday," Harry explained, diplomatically not mentioning how bloody useless he felt Quirrel to be. "Well, I and Susan do. Justin more just helps us out." After a pause, "What happened, anyway? How did a troll end up in the school?"

"We aren't sure, Mr. Tonks," McGonagall stated. "Ten points to Hufflepuff for bravely helping a fellow student. You should return to the Hufflepuff dorms."

"And ten more for fine spell work with the Severing Charm," piped in Flitwick as he came back up the steps. He murmured a few words to McGonagall, who nodded.

"Yes, Professors," Harry agreed, "I'll get my things and head down." Retrieving his bag from the classroom, he headed down the stairs, avoiding the troll and heading towards the kitchens and Hufflepuff's common room.

Soon, he entered the common room, and he was greeted with, "Harry!" Moving towards him, Tonks hugged him, almost bowling him over, "Where were you? I was worried!" Behind her, Justin and Susan hurried over, standing near them, Hannah moving to stand not far from Susan.

"I told you that I'd be studying, right? I was working on my Transfiguration essay, and reading. I heard a scream so went to make sure everything was okay, and saw a troll attacking someone." Harry trailed off, not wanting to go into detail, and asked, "What happened during the feast?"

"We were eating, when a house elf popped in and talked to Dumbledore. He got really upset and worried, and told us to go to our dorms as a troll had somehow entered the castle. He mentioned that the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws should take the rear stairs," Tonks explained.

"That makes sense. One of the portraits probably saw it and went to warn the elves, and one told Dumbledore," Harry reasoned, shrugging.

"Do you know what happened to the troll?" Susan asked curiously, her eyes alight.

"It fell down the stairs or something, and I think it's dead," Harry said to her, "I passed by it on my way here, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were there."

"How the bloody hell does a troll just fall down the stairs?" Justin asked, frowning.

"Maybe the stairs moved and surprised it?" Harry suggested, shrugging. He ignored Tonks' appraising look, glancing towards Hannah. Time to change the subject. "Do you still need help with your Transfiguration homework? I finished mine before the whole troll thing, thankfully."

Hannah perked up and nodded, "I'll get my things." Harry moved to sit down, pulling a book and few parchment scraps out of his bag.

Not long later, Hannah returned, and then Justin and Susan joined them.

HPHPHPHPHP

Later that evening, Harry found Tonks plopping down beside him as he sat in front of the fire. The pink-haired girl waved her wand, "No one can hear us. Now spill, what really happened?"

"Well, I was in the classroom, and I heard footsteps outside, really heavy ones. Was funny, my first thought was 'whoever that is sounds heavier than Hagrid', or such. I looked outside and saw a troll walking down the hallway. I also saw someone go into that bathroom across from the classroom. I was curious because ... Who just walks into a bathroom when there's a troll out there? I'd run." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, I went inside. Heard something for a moment, but when I looked around, no one was there. So I left. Figured that the staff would handle the troll, so I was going back into the classroom when I heard a scream."

"A scream?" Tonks' voice rose slightly.

"Yeah. I was willing to leave the troll alone up to that point, but not if someone needed help. I ran down the hall and the troll was all the way on the other end, in the other girls' bathroom. When I went in, I saw it standing over that girl in Gryffindor, Hermione Granger. It was lifting its club, about to hit her, so I cast a Severing Charm at the club to disarm it and distracted it so it'd chase me." Harry very carefully ignored Tonks' burgeoning glare. "I ran towards the stairs, and when it was near, started hitting it with Knockback Jinxes, as powerful as I could manage. Eventually I managed to push it off the edge of the stairs. Then the teachers showed up."

"Harry, if you _ever_ do something that _stupid_ again, I am going to kill you, even if I have to raise you from the dead to do it!" Tonks stated, her voice rising almost to a shout. "That was bloody stupid!"

"It was the only thing I could do, Tonks. The troll was going to kill her, and I didn't know powerful enough spells yet to beat it another way." Harry sighed, "Maybe by the end of the year."

"Not likely," Tonks said. "Safest way to kill a troll is to bind it in place and banish stuff at it to kill it. So third year for the Banishing Charm, sixth for the Incarcerous Spell, and fourth or sixth year for the transfiguration or conjuration. Even with you being a dab hand with magic, you'll need a while for all of that." She shrugged. "And I'm proud of you for helping, but I'm _mad_ at you for risking yourself. Be prepared. Mum is going to be pissed when she finds out."

"Er," Harry began, "She doesn't really have to know, does she?" He asked. Read: begged.

"Oh, Harry, of _course_ she has to know. She's my mum, you don't think I could hide something like this from her?" Tonks' lips twitched. "Besides, do you think that Professor McGonagall would forget to tell her about finding you with the troll? She _does_ have to notify family if a child was in a dangerous situation."

Harry put his head in his hands. "I'm doomed." And Tonks just laughed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When writing this, I found myself once again explaining the why of things. Justin is a good source of 'Why is it like this?' that I think should have been done by Rowling with Harry and Hermione asking Ron. Sadly, she kind of glossed it over and made the things look weird at times.
> 
> I don't think Occlumency and Legilimency would be as rare as implied in the books. Especially as we see a fair few who likely had to have it. I view basic Occlumency and Legilimency as things that are taught for certain professions, as well as by established families. Aurors likely would know basic Occlumency, as would Healers for both Occlumency and Legilimency. Now being really skilled at it is probably something that takes real work, but enough to stop passive Legilimency, weak probes, and detect it? Definitely.
> 
> As you can tell, I'm changing things up. Why _is_ Quirrel heading down to the basilisk? I looked and Myrtle's IS on the same level as the bathroom Hermione was attacked in. I'm placing them on opposite ends of a long hallway just for plot purposes. *shrug* And yes, this Harry is more than willing to be cautious, leaving things for others to deal with. Unless someone actually needs help.


	5. A Very Harry Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes to the Ministry Yule Ball and talks to friends over the Christmas break!

It was the evening on the Winter Solstice, and the Yule Ball at the Ministry was tonight. Harry was in his room at the Tonks', looking at the clothing that he was going to wear. Aunt Andi had purchased a new outfit for him for the ball: conservative black slacks and black robe with a marine green shirt and black-green tie.

It made him look almost like a Slytherin, which Harry found amusing. If anyone suspected that he was somehow attending Hogwarts, it'd point them in the wrong direction.

Slowly getting dressed, Harry looked at his hair in the mirror. "There's a reason I prefer changing my appearance," He muttered to himself, trying to comb his hair. "I suppose it'll just help if people think my hair is untamable. I can't be that Harold Tonks bloke with hair like that." Muttering to himself, he slowly straightened his tie and nodded.

Heading downstairs, he saw Andromeda there, dressed in a formal black and green gown, similar to his own. "Are you _sure_ that I need to attend this party, Aunt Andi?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid so," Andromeda told him with a sigh, "Remember, that stuffed shirt Fudge has been asking about you. Dumbledore had to tell him you'd attend; it was the only way to get him to stop sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just not looking forward to this," Harry admitted. "I have to get out there and let people fawn over me, you know how much I hate that."

"Yes, well, troll slayers also get people fawning over them," Andromeda said, giving Harry that _look_ of hers.

"I said sorry!" Harry insisted. "I couldn't stand by when I heard someone screaming, though. You know that."

"Yes, I'm proud of you for that." Andromeda just shook her head, "But that doesn't mean I'm not also going to make you sweat," she said, and for a brief moment Harry could again see where Tonks got her sense of humor. "I'm also upset at Dumbledore for not stopping the troll before it got in. He _says_ he doesn't know how it got in without being detected."

"You're as bad as Tonks sometimes," Harry said with a sigh. "When are we leaving?"

"Just a few minutes actually," Andromeda said. "Ted made me some polyjuice potion, he said a dose should last three hours or so," she said. "I trust him, as he's a very good potioneer." And also her husband, of course. "I'm just waiting for Nymphadora to finish getting ready before I drink some and we'll be able to go." She paused, "Remember, I'm your guardian, Marie Potter, a distant relative from Australia, and Nymphadora will be..."

"... Benjamin Potter, at your service. Hello, cousin." Turning, Harry blinked. Tonks was wearing a set of robes, and dressed as a boy.

"You look weird, and way too much like me," Harry observed.

"Well, I _am_ supposed to be your cousin on the Potter side," Tonks said with a smirk. "I basically used your appearance as a base and added a bit of James Norton. He's dishy."

"Of course he is," Harry stated, rolling his eyes at Tonks.

"Behave, Harry, Ben," Andromeda said. She pulled a bottle from her pocket and drank it, wrinkling her nose, "Polyjuice always tastes terrible," she said as she became a tall woman with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. "We're going to floo from Hogwarts," she added, "Dumbledore is expecting us." She went to the fireplace and stated as she tossed floo powder into the flames, "Hogwarts Headmaster's Office," and stepped through.

Following them, Harry stepped through the flames, followed by Tonks. He quickly caught the girl, er, boy, steadying them before stepping away. Spotting Dumbledore, he inclined his head, "Good evening, Headmaster."

"Hello, Marie, Harry, Ben," Dumbledore said, having been briefed on their cover story for the evening. "How are you all today?"

"I'm all right, sir. Not wanting to go to this party," Harry said with a sigh. "'least Marie and Ben are here with me."

"I can understand how stressful it might be for you, young man, but best to be seen so they stop talking about you, yes?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry nodded in response. "Just don't agree to anyone talking about your guardianship. Fudge really wants you in a 'suitable place'."

"Probably with Lucius Malfoy," Andromeda, or Marie, muttered.

"He _did_ mention him, yes," Dumbledore agreed.

"I think that would be a bad idea. I'd probably kill Draco," Harry said dryly. "He pisses me off enough at school. Having to deal with him at home, if I'm not murdered by his father, would be annoying."

"Well, I mentioned that you were of dual citizenship, so as long as you don't imply a difficult home life, it should be fine. Fudge would be terrified of you leaving the country," Dumbledore said lightly. "You should go to the party, though, the floo address is Ministry Foyer."

"All right, Harry, Ben. Come on," said Andromeda.

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry made his way into the banquet hall, looking around. A variety of people could be seen, drinking and talking. Annoyingly, many of them were staring at him. As his eyes scanned the room, he actually saw one or two people he recognized, and had to force himself to not stop when he looked at them. Over there was Susan, probably attending with her parents and Aunt, and he saw Neville with his grandmother as well. "What do you want to do first, Marie? Meet Fudge, or?"

"Getting that over with is a good idea, though I don't think..." Andromeda nodded, "Yes, here he comes."

"Ah, Harry! I'm so glad to see you," Fudge stated, beaming a smile at him. "We've quite missed seeing you," the man continued as if he'd actually met him before.

"Hello, sir," Harry said politely, the young man's voice even. "Nice to meet you," he said, emphasizing the latter, though he knew it probably went over the man's head.

"Is this your guardian?" asked Fudge, glancing towards Marie with a smile, his gaze appraising the woman.

"I am," Andromeda said, offering a polite smile, "Marie Potter," she introduced herself, before gesturing to Tonks, "This is my son, Benjamin."

"Sir," Tonks greeted Fudge, keeping quiet otherwise. Harry idly thought that _not_ speaking was probably painful for her.

"Well! Nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter. I was surprised to hear that young Harry had anyone to take him in from his family, we'd heard that James was the last of the Potters," Fudge said, probing for information.

"That's not surprising; they were the last in Britain," Andromeda replied with a smile. "There are a few outside Britain. My husband in Australia, for one, and I believe we have a cousin in the United States as well," she explained calmly.

"Interesting. Is he growing up in Australia, though? It seems rather a waste to have a Potter grow up outside our great nation!" Fudge said with a slight frown.

"Actually, no. When I and my husband accepted guardianship of Harry, we moved to a property here in Britain and ensured it was warded properly. We figured it'd be better to raise him here," Andromeda continued, "That way he'd be knowledgeable about Britain when he comes of age. We do visit our home elsewhere in the summer, though."

"Ah, that's good. I was sad to see he wasn't attending Hogwarts," Fudge noted. "Don't you think he should be meeting others of his own age? And learning from good teachers?"

"Oh, I have the _best_ teachers," Harry said to Fudge. "I'm already most of the way through second year on spells! And even further with potions!" Mostly because you don't need a wand to learn potions, so he's been learning basic potion theory for years from Ted. And yes, he was playing things up a bit as an excitable student, but he didn't want Fudge to push things. "My favorite class is probably Transfiguration or Potions. Or maybe Arithmancy."

"Also, I study with him!" Tonks as Ben chimes in. "Mum didn't want him to be at risk. You wouldn't want him to be attacked by some crazy Death Eater wannabe, do you?" she asked. "We invite a few friends over now and then, too."

"Oh really? Who are your friends, if I might ask?" Fudge wonders.

"We really shouldn't say here, Minister Fudge," Andromeda steps in. "We wouldn't want to bring attention to others, it might be dangerous." She smiled. "Perhaps we could have a drink, while Harry and Ben make their rounds, and meet some children their age?" If it gets him away from Fudge and his hints, all the better.

Fudge looked conflicted. He wanted to be seen talking to Harry, but had said the boy needed to meet those his own age. Who knew? If he hit it off with someone, he might want to attend Hogwarts! "Of course! I shall see you two later," he said, offering a smile to Harry and Tonks.

"Yes, sir!" Tonks caroled, her voice sounding so _weird_ as a boy. "Let's go make the rounds, Harry!"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry muttered under his breath. "Come on, Ben," He said more loudly, moving through the crowd, bowing now and then. He made it a point to talk to everyone. If he was to be seen, he'd be seen. He _did_ have fun with Susan, kissing her hand when he met her simply to tease her.

He found her blushing utterly amusing. If only she knew.

Eventually, Harry was approached by the Malfoys, "Ah, young Potter," Lucius greeted him. "I'm so glad to meet you!"

"Hello, sir," Harry greeted him, pretending to not know him. "What may I do for you?" Beside him, Tonks watched, ready to step in if something were to happen.

"I had heard from the Minister that you weren't attending Hogwarts, and wanted to say how sad I was of that fact," Lucius stated. "My wife is a relative of yours, so I wanted to meet you and offer a hand if you had need of anything. I have a son your age, you see."

"Hogwarts sounded interesting, but I like my current teachers. I can learn as quickly as I want to. I'd hate to have to slow down," Harry said to Lucius, "And I'm doing very well, I think. I've already finished first year and midway through second year!" As he spoke, he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think Hogwarts would let me do that." While it technically doesn't, he does study ahead. He planned on doing a lot more next summer. Harry considered then, "I will certainly keep you in mind sir, if I think of anything I need, however. It's always good to know people!" He flashed a bright smile at Lucius.

Harry really knew how to play the innocent card.

Tonks rolled her eyes, "He's a _dork_. When our friends visit, half the time they stay inside, he doesn't even seem to like Quidditch much."

"I like watching it!" Harry complained. "Not so much playing it, though, no. Everyone says I should love it due to my dad, but I don't really like flying that much."

Lucius nodded his head, listening, his gaze moving from Ben to Harry and back, "You are?" he asked Ben.

"Oh, Ben Potter. I'm Harry's...what was it, second cousin? Something like that," Tonks said with a shrug. "My mum and dad are his guardians."

About to say more, they stopped as Andromeda walked over, "Ah, Harry, Ben? Dinner is about to start. I apologize if I'm interrupting, but if I need to get them seated." She flashed a smile at Lucius and gently led Harry and Tonks to their seats, sitting.

She was a good actress. You couldn't even tell she hated Lucius.

Dinner itself was a _dreadful_ affair, even if the food was good. Fudge kept _talking_ to him and hinting that Harry needed new guardians. All Harry could do is be polite and very firmly say that he was quite happy where he was.

Over and over again.

Eventually, dinner ended. As Harry was too young for dancing, Andromeda led him out of the hall, spending some time speaking to Fudge before they left. They took a floo to the Leaky Cauldron, and took a room there.

Andromeda was being both cautious and sneaky. Harry changed out of his party clothes, even his smallclothes, and Andromeda vanished them. "Kind of a waste, but best to be safe than sorry," she said to Harry as he got dressed. "Now, I'm going to apparate us around a bit before taking us home."

"Merlin. Finally. Tonight was _horrible_ ," Harry commented, ignoring Tonks' laughter.

HPHPHPHPHP

"So how was the Yule Ball?" Harry asked Susan and Neville. He and Tonks had been invited to Neville's for Christmas brunch and were now relaxing after eating. They'd have to head home soon for family time and dinner. "I know Neville wasn't looking forward to it," he teased the other boy, "But I hadn't heard much from you, Susan."

"It was all right. The food was good. I got to talk to Neville and Daphne Greengrass and a few other friends," Susan began. "Oh, Harry Potter was there. He seemed nice enough. Kind of quiet. We didn't talk long, but he was friendly." Her cheeks colored slightly.

"Oh, someone's blushing!" said Tonks. She teased, "Did Harry Potter flirt with you? Do I hear wedding bells?"

"No!" Susan insisted, frowning at Tonks, "He was a gentleman, though. I think he was a little annoyed with the party, so many people kept telling him how they'd help him and implying his guardians needed to be replaced."

"I bet. With how famous he is, _everyone_ likely wanted to be seen to be close to him," Harry chimed in. He grinned. "if I were him, I'd have flipped a table or something."

"You would not," Neville said as he entered the conversation, "You'd want to, but you know better. Your Aunt would kill you and she can be even more scary than my Gran." He paused, "I talked to him briefly, he seemed nice. We talked about herbology a bit."

"Oh? What about?" Harry asked.

"Potions. He said he liked potions, and we talked about various plants useful in a lot of recipes. He seems really knowledgeable, though he said he was better at _using_ plants than raising them," Neville commented before adding with a smile, "He told me that when he gets older, he might like to work with me on it, though; he has a few plans for potions and will need a lot of materials, apparently."

"Oh, that sounds interesting. Most potions are purchased from apothecaries, I wonder what plans he has," Harry said with a shrug, before grinning, "Personally, I was lazy on Yule, just spent my time reading and practicing. I have a new spell to try on you, Susan," He said to the girl.

"Oy, is that the one you found in mum's old book?" Tonks asked. "Don't fall for it," she warned Susan.

In marked contrast to Tonks' words, Susan perked up, "A new spell? What is it?" she asked.

"I want to _show_ you," Harry said with a mischievous smile.

"Run!" said Tonks dramatically, "Hide!" Neville just stared at them bemusedly.

Rolling her eyes, Susan leaned over and poked Harry, "Talk, you."

"Mean," Harry complained, before chuckling, "It's a cool one! It's a variation on the White Sparks spell, if stronger and a little harder to control. Instead of a shower of sparks making it hard to see, you create one large spark that zaps someone. It's not as powerful as a real bolt of lightning, but it can cause the opponent's body to seize up and can knock them out if it's strong enough or they're hit multiple times. Like a magical stun gun." He paused, sighing as he saw Neville and Susan didn't understand. "Muggles have a weapon where they shoot someone and disable them with electricity." He added, "Auntie said a single Reviving Spell won't help the target, like if you'd been hit by multiple stunners."

"Ohh, that sounds interesting. So it disables them?" Susan asked, eyes shining.

"It hurts like a son of a bitch," Tonks said. "He used it on me. Disabled me for like ten seconds, before I recovered. Probably would be less if I had been expecting something like it, so my bad. In a fight, it's _very_ useful."

"Okay, teach me," Susan demanded.

Harry smirked, "But Susan, we're not allowed to cast magic outside school."

"Harrrry." Susan glared at him. "You know the wards here will block the Trace."

"Why, Susan, and your aunt being the Head of the DMLE. Naughty," Harry teased her before unholstering his wand. "The gesture is an inward spiral, like so, ending pointed at the target. The incantation is, **Fulgurulum**." As he spoke, he did the gesture again and there was a zap as a blast of blue-white lightning struck the stones of the hearth. "Unless you really overpower it, it only goes twenty or so feet."

"And it hurts like a bitch," Tonks repeated again with a faux pout. "Mum likes to keep an eye on us while we're sparring, for safety. She fell off the bench laughing at me when he got me."

Neville shook his head, saying, "I'm not going to try it. I'm not really good at magic, anyway," he said sadly. Harry frowned at him, making a note to talk to him later. Meanwhile, Susan was going through the motions, pointing her wand at the hearth. Every now and then, the end of her wand would flare with blue-white light, but it'd wink out again.

"Remember that you're a first year and this is equivalent to a third year spell, or thereabouts. At least, that's what Auntie said," Harry told Susan. "It probably needs a fair bit of power in addition to skill. It'll take a bit of time to learn." He doesn't mention how long it took him. "Don't exhaust yourself."

"Perhaps, but I'll get it," Susan said determinedly, and Harry moved to sit by Tonks. Without thinking, he rested his head on her shoulder, and she startled.

"Comfortable, Harry?" she asked with a smirk.

"Always, cousin," Harry said with a chuckle. "A little tired, didn't sleep well last night, was looking forward to today." A lot more than Yule.

"Aww, Harry wanted to see his friends," crooned Tonks before pouting as he swatted her arm, "Hey, no hitting, or I'll move."

"Then no teasing," Harry said as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Tonks rolled her eyes. She didn't move, though.

HPHPHPHPHP

A few days later, Harry found himself boarding the train to return to Hogwarts. Finding a compartment, he was soon greeted by Justin and Susan. "Hey! Have a good Christmas, Justin?" he asked the muggleborn.

"Pretty good. My parents had a party to attend, but we had a very good lunch," Justin said after a moment's thought. "Thanks, by the way, for the books. I especially liked the study guide for Wizarding Law."

"You're welcome. My Aunt suggested them, she took the Wizarding Law NEWT. She had been planning on being a solicitor before she decided to do other things," Harry said with a smile.

"Oh? What's she do, then?" Justin asked curiously. Beside him, Susan dug into her bag, pulling out a small book.

"She's a spell crafter. She has a Mastery in Arithmancy and Charms, and does research. She's been working on improvements to Extension Charms for the past year or two, she says she's near a solution," Harry says brightly. "It's fun watching her work, sometimes the results can be rather explosive."

"Extension Charms?" Justin asked.

"Like the TARDIS," Harry said succinctly. "They can take the space in an object or area and make it bigger. Any space, really. That's how you get a trunk like mine with multiple compartments. Auntie's trying to improve the efficacy of the spell and allow the spells to stack. Imagine having an entire school the size of Hogwarts in your trunk."

Susan chimed in, "You're really not supposed to use it on rooms, though, just objects. It's illegal. There are trunks with lots of space though. There's a story that Newt Scamander had a whole nature park in his trunk. My dad uses a trunk flat instead of a wizarding tent sometimes. He has it covered with impervious and protection charms. He likes that he just has to set it down, no setup involved."

"That is _so cool_ ," Justin said, blinking. "I saw some trunks with multiple compartments, but I didn't know you could make the insides that big!"

"Yeah, Aunt Andi is working on making it easier and less magic-intensive to make, so you can make bigger and more intricate spaces. As it is, they just take the space and expand it. She wants to be able shape the expanded space in various ways," Harry said to him.

"So your Aunt is basically a magic geek researcher. I have got to meet her," Justin said with a grin.

"I don't think mum would like being called a geek," said a voice as the door opened. Tonks smirked as she settled down beside Harry, "It's kind of true, though."

They continued chatting about their holidays, from gifts to family. Eventually, they arrived at Hogwarts, only to discover a surprise.

Professor Quirrel had died over the holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to move the timeline ahead. For the rather silly reason that I wanted Tonks to think James Norton was dishy. Well, that and it's easier to not have to look up whether certain things existed in the 90s, it's been a while and I'm old. My memory sucks.
> 
> Funny thing: Dumbledore mentioned dual citizenship, and they do have it. But this will imply it's Australian. I'm running with France as a lot of fanfics give the Blacks some influence there.
> 
> Yes, Harry speaks very intelligently compared to some kids. I spoke a bit like that when I was eleven or twelve, and my little nephew does even moreso. It's not exactly **normal** but it does happen.
> 
> And yeah. I'm not going to be duplicating all the books, obviously. Byebye Quirrel. :)
> 
> "Fulgurulum" = "Small Lightning". Or bullshit Latin I smashed together, anyway.


	6. Rituals and Portents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Signs continue to mount that someone is plotting something bad.
> 
> Harry makes a shocking discovery.

Being back at Hogwarts felt strange to Harry, especially with the furor over Quirrel's death. No one knew what had happened, just that Dumbledore had announced his passing two days after Christmas. Rumors were going wild, from the fact that the 'curse' had taken him to a theory by the Gryffindors that Snape killed him hoping to be allowed to teach the Defense class. But the topic was on _everyone's_ lips.

Harry felt a little guilty that he was so happy that Quirrel had to be replaced. The new teacher was a young auror on loan from the DMLE called Hestia Jones. She was really good, and he and Susan both made a point of actually paying attention in class, something they had done rarely in the past with Quirrel teaching. That wasn't to say that he, Justin, and Susan had stopped their self-study sessions. In fact, thanks to some suggestions from Professor Jones, they had a few more books to look through for interesting spells.

"This is interesting," Harry said from his place near the door, sitting in a chair with a book on his lap.

"What is?" Susan asked. She was in the corner of the room, still working on the Lightning Stunner spell.

"Oh, this book that Professor Jones suggested," Harry answered. "It's more about tactics, how to use various spells in creative ways in duels and fights. Like using the Water-Making Spell and the Freezing Spell to make it harder for an opponent to dodge spells by creating ice patches on the ground. I can't wait to get far enough along to start conjuring. Anyway, this is suggesting practicing using inanimate transfiguration to shape the ground in front of you to block spells. It apparently takes a lot of practice, but is far easier and less tiring than conjuring."

"Ah. Is that the new book you received by owl the other day?" Susan walked towards him to look over his shoulder, "Can I borrow it when you're done?"

"Sure," Harry answered, before glancing over at Justin, who looked to be rather engrossed in his own book, "What about you, Justin? What're you reading?"

"Huh?" Justin looked up a bit, blinking, before answering, "Oh, this book is one of Cedric's, it's on procedures in the Wizengamot. It's kind of interesting, reminds me of Georgian Era law."

"It scares me a little that you know enough about that to draw parallels," Harry said with a slow grin.

"Hey, you can tell me how many times Professor Flitwick won a dueling championship, I can tell you how many times Professor Dumbledore has tried to get a particular law passed," Justin said with a chuckle.

"Fair enough," Harry said. He rose to his feet, and gestured with his wand, murmuring under his breath. The floor in front of him flowed into a narrow wall, and he frowned, "Too thin," he said to himself.

"You do realize that if you don't fix that, you'll eventually get into trouble," Susan said dryly.

"Oh, I can fix it. It'll actually help me train my transfiguration," Harry said with a shrug. Gesturing with his wand, he muttered and the floor flowed back down. Not perfectly, but good enough. He'll completely fix it after practice. He glanced towards the door, peeking out the small window, "Huh. I saw someone go into the bathroom across the way."

"So?" Justin asked.

"It was a boy," Harry added.

"But that's a girl's bathroom," Susan said with a frown.

"Yeah. Some Slytherin. Odd thing is I saw Quirrel going in there on Halloween," Harry said with a shrug. "I'm going to see what's going on. C'mon, Susan, you can come with so you can back me up that I'm not trying to peep or something." Justin followed, though when they got to the bathroom, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He wasn't going in. Harry opened the door and peeked his head into the bathroom. He didn't see _anyone_ , but heard a soft grinding sound. "Huh. Look around, Susan? I don't want to in case there's actually a girl in one of the stalls."

Harry watched as she looked in each of the stalls, "No one's here," Susan told him.

"That is...odd," Harry said with a frown, and then perked up, "There must be a secret passage or something! Wonder where it leads. Hogwarts has a lot of secret passages and things."

Susan continued to look around, then made an eeping sound when she heard a voice behind her, "What is _he_ doing in here?" Turning, she saw a hovering ghost, eyes wide behind her translucent glasses.

"Hello, Myrtle," Susan said after a moment, looking at the ghost. "This is Harry. We saw another boy enter the bathroom and wanted to make sure he wasn't doing something wrong in here. But he seems to have disappeared. Do you know of any secret passages in the bathroom?"

It was strange. You'd not expect it to be possible, but _somehow_ Myrtle paled. After a moment, she started to cry and flew down, disappearing into one of the toilets. Harry blinked, "Well. That happened."

"I wonder what happened to her to have _that_ reaction," said Justin's voice from the hallway. He had been peeking in, even if he didn't want to take a chance on entering the bathroom.

"I don't know," Susan said, "But now I _really_ want to find out."

Harry nodded at her, and shrugged, "I agree, but hanging out in here isn't going to help, and could get me into trouble. Let's go back and get back to practicing. I need to finish the Potions essay for Snape, and you know how he is. I'm glad I'm not in Gryffindor, he marks us harshly enough in Hufflepuff. I hear they have to be _perfect_ or they get Acceptables."

Justin perked up, "Oh, good, I need to finish that one, too..." As they spoke, they returned to their room to practice and do more homework.

HPHPHPHPHP

"Professor Dumbledore," spoke Hagrid as he arrived in the Headmaster's office. "Somethin' else's going on in the Forest. Not the unicorns, but m'friend says that some of his folk have disappeared. Seven of them so far. He's most upset."

Looking up from from the papers at his desk, Dumbledore frowned, "Your friend, Hagrid? Which one?" He's well aware of Hagrid's proclivities with magical creatures.

"Er, that is..." Hagrid shuffled in embarrassment, but knew Dumbledore was already aware of his friend, "Aragog, sir."

"Hmm. Unicorns were bled earlier in the summer, and now acromantula. What is going on," Dumbledore murmured to himself. He looked over at Hagrid, "Did Aragog tell you anything about how they disappeared?"

"Nothin' really. Just that it happened at night, and that the forest got really quiet those nights, as if the animals were afraid," Hagrid told him.

"Have there been any other issues in the forest? Anything at all, no matter how minor it seems?" Dumbledore asked Hagrid, clasping his hands in front of himself.

"Not the forest. The thestrals have been skittish lately, though? I just figured it was the weather, they sometimes get nervous during storms," Hagrid said with a shrug.

"Thestrals. Hm." Dumbledore nodded, "All right, Hagrid. Keep an eye out, I'll look into the matter. Why don't you speak to the centaurs and ask if they've seen anything?" The man's mind whirled. Acromantula, Thestrals, and Unicorns. Perhaps some sort of dark ritual? What sort would require unicorn blood?

"Okay. I'll go do that." Hagrid said, turning and leaving the office, leaving Dumbledore to puzzle further.

HPHPHPHPHP

"Harry, I need your help!" came a familiar voice as Harry entered the Hufflepuff common room, yawning.

Turning, he saw Tonks sitting on a chair near the entryway. "What can I do for you, Tonks?" he wondered.

"Well, y'know it's my OWL year?" Tonks began. She got up, moving towards Harry and slipping an arm around his shoulders, "I asked mum and dad and mum said that if I get an O on my OWLs in the casting subjects, she'll let me join a dueling championship. I know I'll manage that and I need someone to help me practice dodging for the tournament. I immediately thought of you. You have good reflexes."

"Wait, you want me to cast spells at you?" He thought he and Susan were the only crazy ones.

"Well, yes? Just tickling charms or color changing charms or something, though," Tonks added. "I'm not stupid."

Harry snickered, "I can do that. You can join I and Susan, we already do this to practice."

"Oh, you and Susan, all alone in your study room?" Tonks teased, while Harry rolled his eyes.

"I, Susan, and Justin. And once in a while, Neville. And no, Tonks. I'm not into Susan that way," Harry told her. "We're too young for that. I do think she might have an inkling of something for Justin or Neville, though. Probably Neville, though."

"Aww, no girls for little Harry?" Tonks teased, before nodding. "All right, then. It'd be even better if I can manage to dodge both you and Susan at once, as you're just kids, if talented ones."

"You say that now," Harry quipped. "Later, when you're rolling on the floor helpless, and I and Susan refuse to cancel the spells, you'll feel differently."

"Oh, so you want me to be at your mercy?" teased Tonks before smirking, "C'mon, then."

Harry chuckled and turned to follow her. At least his homework was all done for the day.

HPHPHPHPHP

Classes continued, and Harry tried his best to do well. Hermione slowly inched her way up, threatening to pass him on theory, but Harry was a Hufflepuff. Working hard was in his blood, if only metaphorically speaking. Harry made a point of helping Neville with Potions, and kept his own head down in the class.

Tonks started joining them now and then for their practice sessions, and Harry and Susan enjoyed tossing tickling charms at Tonks to practice their accuracy, even as Tonks did her best to dodge. She wasn't very good at first due to her natural clumsiness, which Harry teased her over quite often.

"I'm going to get you one of these days," complained Tonks as she glared at Harry, having been _finally_ released from the tickling charm she was under. "How do you cast so quickly, I've older than you and _I_ can't cast spells as quickly as you can. It's really hard to dodge when you go all out."

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. I have really good reflexes, and spells come easily to me. In classes, it's theory that I have to work hard on," he added after a moment. "Pretty sure in a real duel you'd annihilate me. You can do scads more spells than I can." He perked up, "I did manage to get the Banishing Charm to work, though, so I'm catching up."

Susan piped up with, "Try dueling with him," she suggested. "We do fake duels where we are only allowed tickling charms, he wins more than I do. Really helps with both dodging and accuracy."

"She's being modest," Harry said with a smirk, "She wins a fair number of bouts herself." With this, he turned and suddenly cast a tickling charm at Susan, " **Rictusempra** ," who dodged out of the way. "See?"

"Hey!" Susan said, glaring at him, and then she cast back, and soon she and Harry were having their own little dueling match.

Tonks watched with amusement, and in the corner, a dry voice said, "They do this. Tease each other and fight all the time. I'm pretty sure by this point Susan's adopted Harry as a little brother." Justin chuckled, "Just don't get in their way, I did once by accident and both tagged me with tickling charms. Did you know that they stack? I laughed so much it actually hurt."

"You sure it's not something more than that?" Tonks asked lightly.

"Oh, heavens no," Justin said as he laughed. "Susan's been mooning over Neville Longbottom. I think she liked him even before we started Hogwarts." His voice lowered further, not wanting Susan to hear him, "I'm pretty sure I saw her write his name in hearts in her diary at one point. It's one reason I and Harry invite him in from time to time, we're trying to get her to get comfortable with him so she can do something when she's older."

Tonks snickered, "If that doesn't work, talk to me. Between us we can lock them in a room till they start snogging."

"I might take you up on that," Justin said, before rising to his feet. He gestured with his wand towards a laughing Susan, " **Finite Incantatem**. Good one, Harry."

"See, you won," Susan complained, though with a smile on her lips.

" _Especially_ after what we were talking about, you know I couldn't go easy; you'd have killed me if I had," Harry said, lifting a hand. "I won that one because you heard them talking about your boyfriend and got distracted."

"HEY!" Susan glared at Harry, "He is not my boyfriend."

"Yet," chimed in Justin. "I was just telling Tonks how we invite Neville from time to time to study with us."

"I hate you both," Susan said, crossing her arms and moving to sit down. And sulk.

Tonks snickered quietly, "I like you lot. You're fun," she said to them.

"Of course we are," Harry said, preening, before chuckling, "But we've been cooped up too long. Why don't we go out on the grounds, go for a walk? I could use the exercise; with the amount of food they serve here, if I don't exercise, I swear I'll get fat."

"Are you calling me fat?" Tonks asked archly, before smirking, "Sure, let's go. Let's visit Hagrid."

"Hagrid?" Harry asked, "I've heard of him, saw him on the boats; I've been meaning to meet him. Sure. Justin, Susan?"

"I want to finish this book," Justin said, "Maybe another time."

"I would, but I've been putting off my Potions homework and that's one class where I don't want to give the teacher an excuse to be mad at me," Susan said. "Maybe I'll head on down once I finish."

"Your choice," Harry said lightly, "C'mon, Tonks. To Hagrid we go. Tally ho." He linked an arm in hers and headed towards the door.

Tonks rolled her eyes and followed, "Yes, yes, Harry. Let's go slay the..." She paused, "...I can't think of anything to fit the metaphor."

Laughing, the pair left the classroom.

HPHPHPHPHP

Soon enough, the pair arrived at Hagrid's hut. "Hagrid? You around?" called Tonks, as she knocked on the large man's door. Waiting outside, they knocked again and again, there was no answer. "Guess he's not here," Tonks said to Harry.

Shrugging, Harry suggested, "Let's take a look around, maybe he's doing groundskeeper stuff?"

They wandered the grounds a bit, and as they neared the Forbidden Forest, they heard sounds. Moving towards the edge, they saw Hagrid walking out of the forest, crying.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Tonks asked in concern as she neared him, frowning.

"Just some bad news. Who's this, Tonks?" he asked, glancing curiously at Harry.

"This is my cousin, Harold Marius Tonks. Harry, this is Hagrid, he's a good friend," Tonks introduced them. "What bad news? Anything we can help you with?"

"I just found a dead critter, that's all." Hagrid explained. "The thestrals showed me where it was. I doubt I'd've found it otherwise, it was buried. Some...someone killed a baby dragon."

"You're kidding," Tonks said with a frown, "Dragons are protected creatures, you aren't even allowed to have one unless you've got a permit or something, and even then it needs to be in a proper reserve." As she spoke, she ran her finger through her now-red hair. "Who would go to the trouble of getting a dragon and then _kill_ it?"

"I dunno," Hagrid said, sniffling, "I always wanted one though, so finding one that was killed..." He trailed off. "I really want to find who did it." The large man clenched his fists hard enough that his knuckles cracked.

Harry stepped forward, putting his hand on Hagrid's, "Calm down, Hagrid. We'll find out who did it, and stop them. We should tell someone. Perhaps the Headmaster?"

Hagrid nodded, "I should. 'e told me to tell 'im if something happened in the forest, strange things been goin' on."

"Strange things?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah. Some of Aragog's kin disappeared, not t'mention..." Hagrid paused. "I'm not supposed ta talk about that. I should tell Professor Dumbledore." He turned and walked towards the castle. Glancing at each other, Harry and Tonks followed in his wake.

"Who's Aragog, Hagrid?" asked Harry casually as they walked.

"Aragog's m'friend, I raised 'im from an egg," Hagrid answered. When they entered the school, he looked at them, "I need t'see the Professor," and turned to walk away.

For a brief moment, Tonks looked like she wanted to follow him before stopping with a sigh. She said to Harry, "There's this big gargoyle statue in front of Dumbledore's office, we won't be able to find out anything more. So he raised Aragog from an egg. I wonder what he is."

"Other than some kind of magical creature, no clue," Harry said with a shrug. "I suppose we can ask around, but if he lives in the Forbidden Forest, I doubt anyone has a clue."

"You're probably right. Want to go back up to the classroom and check on Justin and Susan?" asked Tonks.

"Probably should. I can help her with her homework. I need to do some reading too," Harry told her.

"'k. I wanted to look at one or two of those books you had myself. They looked interesting," Tonks noted.

"Those were Professor Jones' suggestions. She is _so much_ better as a teacher compared to Quirrel was," Harry said as they headed up the steps to their study room.

HPHPHPHPHP

The weeks continued to pass, Harry splitting his time between his schoolwork and his other studies. Soon, it was March, and Harry found himself knuckling down to study, as he feared he was falling behind on theory due to his focus on practical dueling. Susan had been teasing him about that, lately. And he wasn't about to disappoint his Aunt Andi.

After one such study session, Harry checked his watch and blanched. He was out after curfew. He _really_ didn't want to get in trouble, so he'd have to be sneaky. It was times like this that made him wish Aunt Andi would let him have the invisibility cloak in the Potter Vaults. After a moment's thought, he smirked as he slipped out of the room, shutting the door, and changed his appearance, making him look a little like a young Nicholas Hoult. At least he wasn't wearing robes, as they didn't have to wear them outside of classes. Slipping his tie off as that'd identify him as a Hufflepuff, he took the stairs.

Only for the stairs to shift their positions suddenly and head upwards.

Harry sighed, but kept moving. Stairs stayed in position for a long while after their shift, so he'd have to take another set down. These went on for longer than he expected, and when he emerged onto the landing, he realized he was on the seventh floor not far from the astronomy tower. Walking along the hallway towards the other stairs, he paused, frowning. He heard sounds coming from the stairs heading up to the small court where the Astronomy classes usually were held.

It was a weekend, so there shouldn't be any classes up there.

Harry's natural curiosity won over his caution. Something that his Aunt would yell at him for later, most likely. Slowly, he took the steps up the tower and soon emerged onto the expanse where Professor Sinistra held her classes.

Only to find a shocking sight.

Arranged in a complicated pattern looked to be blood. Bones and bits of flesh were placed in specific places as well, and he could hear chanting from the Slytherin in the center. "I, Lord Voldemort, do hereby call upon my power to take this body for my own...with venom most deadly to devour and obliterate and blood most pure to bind..." He continued to chant, lifting his hands.

All Harry could think was, _Well, shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to illustrate with the occasional odd scene that segues into something important that Harry (and Susan and Justin) are studying a lot. I don't want it to be one of those 'Harry is awesome just because' things, even if I did give him a boost that isn't too apparent yet. :) He works hard. It's one of my peeves in canon, how Harry seems to just coast along most of the time, especially after he has to know bad stuff is going to keep happening.
> 
> I plan on dropping a few Harry and Tonks casual scenes in, just to see that yes, they are close to each other. :) As should be apparent, Harry is a bit young to crush on anyone yet. Not to mention girls mature more quickly than boys. It'll happen, but not till third year, and he and Tonks won't get together till fourth at minimum.
> 
> Yes, Voldemort killed Norberta. I actually feel a little bad about that, even if dragons in 'canon' Harry Potter are simply magical animals.
> 
> I used the movie robes, simply because I think it makes sense for students not to wear robes all the time. Pants, shirt, tie works outside of class.
> 
> The stairs thing is a coincidence. They happen. 'sides, moving stairs are great for that sort of thing. And perhaps Hogwarts has a consciousness enough to want to point someone in the proper direction.
> 
> And yes, that is Voldemort's plan. To use a ritual to 'permanently possess' someone, destroying their soul so the body wouldn't deteriorate from possession and therefore basically make the body his own. I never really liked the whole 'Philosopher's Stone' thing. How would Voldemort know how to use one? We never discover him to be an alchemist, and even if he was, how likely is it he'd learn the really specialized stuff to use a Stone to make Elixir of Life? When there was literally one Stone in existence?


End file.
